Crete residents speak out against detention center

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Updated: March 16, 2012 8:16AM

Crete residents are continuing to voice concerns over the proposed construction of an immigration detention center.

About 35 area residents confronted village officials during Monday’s village board meeting.

The proposed medium-security center would be built and operated by Corrections Corporation of America, a private Nashville, Tenn.-based company, on 70 acres at the end of Hartman Drive, about a mile south of Burville Road.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law-enforcement agency under Homeland Security, is collaborating with the company on the project. According to ICE, the facility would house up to 750 people awaiting deportation.

Crete was selected by ICE as a tentative site for the center in July. The undeveloped site is zoned for light-industrial use. It would be one of six new facilities nationwide.

Opponents at Monday’s meeting rallied against the idea of such a facility in their back yard, saying the centers break up families. They also alleged there are reports of sexual and physical abuse at detention sites.

“The CCA appears to have a bad track record,” resident Jerry Callaway said, noting several reports he’d read about the nation’s largest private prisons contractor. “The offer of money is alluring. But reading these reports, it does not look charming. It doesn’t look like something you want to get involved in as a city.”

Crete resident Concetta Smart said opponents have scheduled another informational meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 at Crete Elementary School, 435 North St.

Crete Mayor Michael Einhorn reiterated his stance that the village has only agreed to “take a look” at the project, and has not yet gone beyond the exploratory stage. Einhorn did say that the village had discussions with CCA officials in Crete last week, and went over frequently asked questions regarding the facility.

The center would provide an economic boost to Crete, village officials said. Einhorn pointed to a 17 percent increase in the village’s health care expenses as an example of the economic realities that temper the village’s decision regarding the facility. He also said the residents’ concerns are being heard.

“We are listening to what the residents are saying,” Einhorn said. “Believe me, I read the stuff every day. Some of the stuff is nonsensical, but some it is based in fact and has merit.

“It may surprise you that some people happen to be in favor of this,” he said. “It is not a singular issue where everybody unilaterally throughout the entire town is against it.”

Joyce Freudenberg, who lives in an unincorporated area just outside of Crete, said the facility would make property values in the area go down. She said she also fears that CCA officials would begin housing violent criminals in the detention center to maintain profits, if there weren’t enough medium-security offenders to fill it. She residents against the plan have collected more than 600 signatures and want to put the issue to public vote.

“Most of the community objects to this prison. Why would you not put it to a vote before spending all this time and effort,” Freudenberg said.