Prison opposition standing tall

To the editor:
In recent months, Leavenworth has found itself at the center of a national issue with very local consequences. CoreCivic, the private prison giant, has partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reopen the shuttered Leavenworth Detention Center as an immigration detention facility. But despite corporate rebranding and bureaucratic language, this isn’t just about names or contracts. It’s about people, safety, public accountability and the values we want our city to reflect.
Our group, the CoreCivic Opposition Group, formed in response to this concerning development. We are local residents who care deeply about Leavenworth’s future. We come from different walks of life but are united under one belief: CoreCivic’s return is not what’s best for our community.
In March 2025, ICE quietly signed a letter agreement with CoreCivic to reopen the facility under a new name: the Midwest Regional Reception Center. It did so without public input or a local special use permit, an effort to bypass the rules every other business must follow.
Thankfully, Leavenworth stood up. The city of Leavenworth filed suit to insist CoreCivic comply with local zoning ordinances. In early June, Leavenworth County District Judge John Bryant issued an order temporarily blocking any reopening until proper permitting is secured.
Thank you, city of Leavenworth, for defending citizens’ voices and ensuring our standards are upheld.
While we’ve made progress, misinformation persists about this facility and who it would hold. Here are three myths worth dispelling:
Myth 1: “Only undocumented immigrants are detained by ICE.”
That’s false. ICE detains a wide range of individuals, including asylum seekers who arrive legally, visa overstays, green card holders with minor criminal convictions, refugees, applicants with pending status, and even U.S. citizens mistaken in ICE databases. Being in ICE detention does not automatically mean someone is undocumented or has broken the law.
Myth 2: “CoreCivic offers quality jobs and runs a secure operation.”
History shows otherwise. A 2017 Department of Justice audit revealed the Leavenworth facility had a 25% staffing vacancy rate, resulting in routinely unsafe conditions and violence. Reports of understaffing and fraudulently hiding triple bunking go back many years before COVID, which CoreCivic uses to justify their chronic mismanagement. Guards were overworked and undertrained.
Myth 3: “This facility will strengthen the local economy.”
This is misleading. CoreCivic may profit, but Leavenworth will bear the burden. Their advertised jobs are high turnover (over 140% nationally), poorly supported and often unsafe. Worse, our emergency services, infrastructure and local systems would sustain added pressure all while corporate profit increases. CoreCivic points to their taxes and offers to pay impact fees but those taxes and fees will be consumed through increased services like police and managing sanitary sewer overflows.
This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s a moral and civic one. It’s about whether we allow our community to be used as a pawn in a system of large-scale incarceration driven by profit. It’s about demanding transparency and upholding local governance.
Leavenworth has always valued fairness, public service and community. We must not allow billion-dollar corporations to override our laws and values.
To get involved or learn more, visit citizensstandup.wixsite.com/stopcoreciviclv.

Skie Pearson/Leavenworth