Former Tennessee prison-turned-ICE center gets first immigrant detainees

The mayor of Mason said the facility will bring jobs and economic development to the town, but there were also loud objections during a contentious public meeting.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Immigrant detainees have started arriving at a former Tennessee prison that's been turned into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, the facility's operator said.

CoreCivic Inc. said late Wednesday that it has begun receiving detainees at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in the rural town of Mason, located about 40 miles northeast of Memphis.

The arrivals come after Mason officials approved agreements with ICE and CoreCivic on Aug. 12, despite loud objections from upset residents and activists during a contentious public meeting.

For years, the prison served as an important economic engine for Mason. It was closed in 2021 after President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to stop renewing contracts with certain detention facilities. President Donald Trump reversed that order in January.

The contracts were approved amid a push by Trump for mass deportations of immigrants. Trump has touted a detention facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," where allegations of mistreatment of detainees have drawn lawsuits from civil rights advocates and environmental groups.