Officials to inspect Illinois jail for Gitmo inmates
THOMSON, Ill. (AP) — Federal officials are at a prison in northwest Illinois that the government might buy to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.
An Obama administration official says the federal agencies in Carroll County to inspect the Thomson Correctional Center on Monday include the Bureau of Prisons, Homeland Security and the Departments of Defense and Justice.
The officials will get an afternoon tour of the facility and meet with local and state officials.
The federal government is considering buying the Illinois prison to turn it into a federal prison that also would hold the Guantanamo Bay detainees.
That proposal has generated criticism from some, including Republican lawmakers, who raise safety concerns.
Thomson was built in 2001, but the prison has been largely vacant since then because of budget problems.
