KANSAS CITY – Private prison operator CoreCivic has applied for a city permit to convert its shuttered facility in Leavenworth into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
The 1,100-bed complex closed in 2021 when President Joe Biden issued an executive order against contracts with private prisons. Before that, CoreCivic in Leavenworth was working with the U.S. Marshals Service.
Immigration attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford tells KMBC-9 that CoreCivic has been working for years to transform the facility into a center where ICE could detain undocumented immigrants and other people for deportation proceedings.
Leavenworth city officials are planning a public meeting on March 11 to gauge public interest.