(St. Paul, MN) – The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) is appalled at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility set to open in Appleton, Minnesota. At 1,600 beds, the CoreCivic facility would be the first private ICE detention facility in the state and among the largest carceral facilities in Minnesota.
It’s a staggering increase over the immigration detention capacity currently contracted to county jails. ILCM warns that the facility’s scale and its remoteness threaten the ability of detained people to access legal counsel. Across the country, immigrants in detention centers are denied healthcare, living in overcrowded spaces, and treated barbarically.
"At times, entering detention facilities can be a death sentence, yet not a single immigration violation is considered a capital offense,” ILCM’s Director of Public Policy and Public Affairs, Julia Decker, stated. “It starts to beg the question: what is the point of immigration detention?”
ILCM denounces privatized detention as a revenue stream. A system that pays a private company per person, per day creates an incentive to take people away and detain them for longer. As Operation Metro Surge and other actions have shown, incentivizing detentions incentivizes violence against communities, violations of civil rights and civil liberties, and further dehumanization of immigrants and refugees.
Appleton sits roughly 150 miles west of the Twin Cities, where the majority of Minnesota's immigration attorneys, accredited representatives, and interpreters are based. Detention far from counsel is a functional obstacle to due process. ILCM is also concerned that people will be transferred into Appleton from other states, separating them from their attorneys, their evidence, and their families, and compounding access to counsel problems well beyond Minnesota's borders. This announcement comes on the heels of over 3,800 ICE agents terrorizing Minnesotan communities. A new horror is at our doorstep.
During Operation Metro Surge, ILCM served 247 people detained. Appleton will operate at a far greater scale, in a community with fewer legal resources.
As the largest provider of free immigration legal services in Minnesota, with in-house language access, ILCM will work with its partners to monitor the situation, communicate clear and accurate information to community members, and continue to fight for the rights that all immigrants and refugees should have, regardless of whether they are detained or not. We will be watching this facility closely, especially as detainees are set to begin arriving in late 2026.
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About the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) is dedicated to defending and expanding immigrant and refugee rights across Minnesota and North Dakota. We provide free immigration legal representation to low-income individuals, educate diverse communities, and advocate for compassionate, practical policy for our community members. For 30 years, ILCM has been the region's leading provider of comprehensive immigration legal services to clients of all nationalities.