Tennessee town approves deals to turn closed prison into immigration
detention facility
[August 13, 2025]
By ADRIAN SAINZ
MASON, Tenn. (AP) — Officials in a rural Tennessee town voted Tuesday to
approve agreements to turn a former prison into an immigration detention
facility operated by a private company, despite loud objections from
upset residents and activists during a contentious public meeting.
The five-member Board of Aldermen in Mason, plus Mayor Eddie Noeman and
Vice Mayor Reynaldo Givhan, met in a fire station garage to discuss
converting the closed West Tennessee Detention Facility into a U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center run by CoreCivic
Inc.
Also present were a few dozen vocal, angry members of the public who
oppose allowing ICE to house immigrants in Mason who have been taken
into custody as President Donald Trump pushes for mass deportations.
Trump has touted a Florida detention facility where allegations of
mistreatment of detainees have drawn lawsuits from civil rights
advocates and environmental groups.
The first vote of the meeting resulted in approval for a contract with
CoreCivic to resume operating the facility, which was closed in 2021
after President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Justice to stop
renewing contracts with private detention facilities. Trump reversed
that order in January. The second vote, to approve an agreement with
ICE, also passed.
It is not immediately known when the facility will reopen.
Mayor points to job-generating potential
Noeman said he wanted to reopen the shuttered prison to bring jobs and
economic development to the town, which has struggled with financial
problems and needs infrastructure improvements. With a population of
about 1,300, Mason is located about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northeast
of Memphis. When it was open, the prison was the town’s largest employer
and an important economic engine.
Noeman, an Egyptian-American immigrant and a longtime business owner in
the town, called turning the closed prison over to CoreCivic and ICE a
“win-win situation,” which led to a cascade of loud boos.
“It's nothing personal about any immigrant,” Noeman said, adding moments
later that “to give jobs to the people is what I'm looking for.”
At times, Noeman argued with attendees, questioning whether they
actually live in Mason and telling them “you don't know what you're
talking about.”
Before the meeting, board member Virginia Rivers told The Associated
Press that she does not support turning the prison into an ICE facility
because “I don't like what ICE stands for, how they treat the people.”
During the meeting, she noted that some immigrants without criminal
records are being swept up by immigration agents and separated from
their families. She said approving the contracts would make Mason
“complicit in the abusive treatment of immigrants.”
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The CoreCivic West Tennessee Detention Facility, Jan. 24, 2024, in
Mason, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
“We as officials of the town of Mason that were elected by the
citizens should consider the consequences and the hurt that this
would cause our local community, our neighbors, Tennessee schools
and many families,” Rivers said.
CoreCivic said in a statement that the ICE facility would create
nearly 240 new jobs, and it is currently advertising openings for
detention officers at a pay rate of $26.50 per hour. The facility
would also generate about $325,000 in annual property tax revenue
and $200,000 for Mason that could be used for schools,
infrastructure improvements and other projects, the company said.
“The services we provide help the government solve problems in ways
it could not do alone — to help create safer communities by
assisting with the current immigration challenges, dramatically
improve the standard of care for vulnerable people, and meet other
critical needs efficiently and innovatively,” CoreCivic said.
CoreCivic has faced dozens of lawsuits in Tennessee
In 2022, Mason reached a deal with the state of Tennessee after it
attempted to take over the city's finances following years of
alleged mismanagement. Some members of the public who spoke at the
meeting said Mason is a majority-Black town with a history of being
ignored and treated with disrespect.
One of the speakers, Charles Watkins, noted that CoreCivic was the
operator of the prison under its previous name, Corrections
Corporation of America.
“How is it that we can consistently let these organizations come
into Black communities and then just somehow overwhelm us with the
few dollars that they throw on the table as crumbs while they take
the majority of the take back to wherever they came from?” Watkins
said.
Tennessee’s corrections agency has fined CoreCivic $44.7 million
across four prisons from 2022 through February, including for
understaffing violations. Records obtained by AP also show the
company has spent more than $4.4 million to settle about 80 lawsuits
and out-of-court complaints alleging mistreatment — including at
least 22 inmate deaths — at four Tennessee prisons and two jails
from 2016 through September 2024.
The state comptroller released scathing audits in 2017, 2020 and
2023.
The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company has defended itself by
pointing to industrywide problems with hiring and keeping workers.
___
Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville,
Tennessee.
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