Tennessee Will Turn Closed Prison Into Detention Center
Officials in Mason, a small rural town in Tennessee, voted Tuesday to reopen a shuttered prison as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, to be operated by private prison company CoreCivic. The decision came despite heated opposition from residents and activists during a tense public meeting.
The facility, formerly the West Tennessee Detention Facility, was closed in 2021 after President Biden ordered the Department of Justice to end contracts with private prisons. That policy was reversed by President Trump earlier this year, clearing the way for CoreCivic to return.
Tuesday’s vote also approved a separate agreement between the town and ICE. Mayor Eddie Noeman said the move would bring economic relief to Mason, a town of about 1,300 residents that has struggled since the prison’s closure. Before it shut down, the facility was Mason’s largest employer and a key source of local revenue.
Noeman, an Egyptian-American immigrant and local business owner, called the reopening a “win-win situation”—a remark that was met with loud boos from the crowd. At times, tensions boiled over, with Noeman challenging critics in the audience, asking if they even lived in Mason and telling them, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Opponents of the plan expressed concerns over ICE’s track record and CoreCivic’s history of alleged mistreatment. Board member Virginia Rivers voted against the proposal, saying, “I don’t like what ICE stands for, how they treat people,” and warned the town risked becoming “complicit in the abusive treatment of immigrants.”
Many community members also pointed out Mason’s majority-Black population and long history of being marginalized. Some questioned why the town would allow a controversial facility in a place already struggling for respect and resources.
According to CoreCivic, the new ICE facility would create approximately 240 jobs, including detention officer positions starting at $26.50 an hour. The company estimates it will generate $325,000 in annual property taxes and provide Mason with $200,000 in additional revenue.
However, CoreCivic’s track record has come under scrutiny. From 2022 to early 2025, Tennessee’s corrections department fined the company $44.7 million across four prisons, citing issues such as chronic understaffing. Public records also show CoreCivic has paid over $4.4 million to settle around 80 lawsuits and complaints related to mistreatment—including at least 22 inmate deaths—at its Tennessee facilities since 2016.
Despite community resistance and the company’s controversial history, the town’s leadership appears committed to moving forward with the plan.
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