West Tennessee town votes to reopen former prison as ICE detention facility

Officials in a rural west Tennessee town voted Tuesday to approve agreements to turn a former prison into an immigration detention facility operated by a private company, despite objections during a contentious public meeting.

The five-member Board of Aldermen in Mason, plus Mayor Eddie Noeman and Vice Mayor Reynaldo Givhan, met in a fire station garage to discuss converting the closed West Tennessee Detention Facility into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center run by CoreCivic Inc.

Also present were a few dozen vocal, angry members of the public who oppose allowing ICE to house immigrants in Mason who have been taken into custody.

The first vote of the meeting resulted in approval for a contract with CoreCivic to resume operating the facility, which was closed in 2021 after President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Justice to stop renewing contracts with private detention facilities. Trump reversed that order in January. 

The second vote, to approve an agreement with ICE, also passed.

With a population of about 1,300, Mason is located about 40 miles northeast of Memphis.

Noeman said he wanted to reopen the shuttered prison to bring jobs and economic development to the town, which has struggled with financial problems and needs infrastructure improvements. When it was open, the prison was the town’s largest employer and an important economic engine.

CoreCivic said in a statement that the ICE facility would create nearly 240 new jobs, and it is currently advertising openings for detention officers at a pay rate of $26.50 per hour. The facility would also generate about $325,000 in annual property tax revenue and $200,000 for Mason that could be used for schools, infrastructure improvements and other projects

It is not immediately known when the facility will reopen.



(AP Photo George Walker IV)