Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, expressed concern Aug. 22 about “safeguarding human dignity” of detainees after the state’s governor announced plans for a migrant detention center dubbed “Cornhusker Clink.”
Conley urged the facility only be used to detain those in the U.S. without documents who have committed crimes endangering “public safety,” not those just seeking a better life. He also said any detainee must be allowed to “access regular and ongoing pastoral care.”
The detention facility — the latest in a series of new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers with alliterative names as the Trump administration seeks to increase deportations — was announced by ICE and Republican Gov. Jim Pillen on Aug. 19. ICE said beds for the detention center will be made available at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, Nebraska.
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