From the Arkansas Advocate:
Federal immigration officials are reportedly considering building a detention facility at the controversial Franklin County state prison site, further frustrating locals who say they’ve been left in the dark by state officials once again.
Franklin County Sheriff Johnny Crocker told the Advocate Thursday that Chief Deputy Jon Little was patrolling the area Monday when he encountered three Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the agency’s New Orleans office at the entrance of the site. Joe Profiri, a special adviser to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the former secretary of the Department of Corrections, arrived a few minutes later, and he and the agents entered the property.
Describing the agents as “super friendly,” Crocker said they told Little they were looking at potentially building a migrant detention facility at the Franklin County prison site.
“And Jon goes, ‘Well, man, this may not be up for the next three to five years. If the prison even goes in, there’s still a lot of things going on,’” Crocker said. “And the ICE agent stated, ‘No, we can have this up very quickly, we’ll put a temporary one up first.’”
Crocker said that when Profiri arrived, the former corrections secretary did not want to talk to the chief deputy. Profiri acted aggravated that Little was there, Crocker said.
Local officials were not informed that the 815-acre site was being considered for use as an immigration detention facility, Crocker said. The sheriff expressed deep displeasure with how the prison saga has been handled, calling the lack of information “cowardly” and dishonest. He said he supports Sanders in general as a conservative, but “I do not support this.”
“It frustrates me that leading individuals of this state are being very quiet and very sneaky and lying to the people of this state, and it needs to be fixed,” Crocker said.
“Be transparent with people, let them know what’s going on,” he said. “Taxpayers should have input. We don’t live under a … dictator. What they’ve done is wrong.”
Crocker’s attitude reflects the opinions of many Franklin County officials and residents, who’ve complained they were blindsided by Sanders’ announcement of the nearly $3 million purchase of the property on Oct. 31, 2024.
The site is unworkable, Crocker added, because there’s “no water there,” nor are there local utilities that can provide water. “They’re going to put them in a cattle pasture. That’s what this place is,” he said. “They spent $100 million on nothing, so is this their bailout? That’s my question.”
The state Legislature previously appropriated $75 million toward prison capital improvements but failed this year to appropriate a requested $750 million specifically for the proposed mega-prison. In addition to the $2.9 million cost of the property, the Board of Corrections hired Vanir Construction Management as its new prison project manager on a four-year, $16.5 million contract. The board also approved a $57-million design contract for the prison, but the Arkansas Legislative Council has not yet taken it up for final approval.
Governor’s office comment
When asked to confirm whether the site visit with Profiri occurred, Sam Dubke, Sanders’ spokesperson, did not explicitly confirm or deny it, nor did he answer specific questions about the state’s discussions with ICE regarding the site and what actions had been taken to consult with local officials.
“Governor Sanders’ Administration is in ongoing conversations with the Trump Administration and federal immigration officials on how to best support the President’s work to secure the border and get violent, criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” Dubke wrote in a text message to the Advocate.
Local officials weren’t the only ones who didn’t know about the visit or potential for an immigration detention facility. The state Department of Corrections was also left in the dark, according to spokesperson Rand Champion.
“The Department became aware of reports of a site visit late Wednesday,” Champion told the Advocate in a text message Thursday. “To my knowledge we have not been involved in those discussions as it would fall under federal jurisdiction.”
Adam Watson, an outspoken opponent of the prison project and director of online site Gravel and Grit, pointed to ICE’s visit as another example of Sanders’ office not consulting with local communities or the state officials who oversee state prisons on major decisions impacting their communities.
Watson said he had no clue what the end game was in allowing ICE to potentially use the site, but that it does nothing to change the minds of people in the local community about the prison. The site, he said, is still completely unsuitable for either a federal or state facility, pointing to concerns about a lack of available water, and other utilities and infrastructure.
“I don’t know if the governor thought that this was going to be something to garner additional support from such a conservative community” by working to assist with immigration detentions, Watson said. “But it’s been exactly the opposite, so if that was the intent, it backfired.”
Franklin County radio station KDYN was first to report about ICE’s visit Thursday morning. Many commenters on KDYN’s Facebook post about the visit seemed to agree with Watson’s and Crocker’s concerns.
“I have more objections to this than a regular prison!” Emily A Barton wrote.
Some commenters conjectured that Arkansas might be allowing immigration detention in order to reduce the cost of constructing the proposed 3,000-bed prison. The most recent estimates peg construction costs at $825 million.
“[P]robably running out of money to get it up and running,” David Kathleen Hedges wrote. “If they get federal money involve[d] it takes care of their problem. The people we voted in obviously don’t care about we the people. Whatever it takes to get their prison built is what they will do.”
Even people who say they support the prison weren’t enthused.
“I support the prison but it’s pretty ridiculous that they are doing all this behind our county administration’s back,” RD Brooks wrote.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman’s office said: “We have not been contacted by any officials from the state or federal government regarding an ICE facility in Franklin County.”
ICE’s New Orleans office and national headquarters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
