DHS Opens New ICE Detention Center in Nebraska

The Trump administration is opening its third version of the “Alligator Alcatraz” state-run migrant detention center in Nebraska — this one dubbed the “Cornhusker clink,” The Post has learned.

“Thanks to Governor Pillen for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Nebraska’s Cornhusker Clink,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

The new facility’s opening is all part of the administration’s push to massively expand ICE detention capacity with a goal of holding 100,000 illegal migrants at a single time.

States, private contractors and ICE have announced the opening or expansion of at least 11 facilities for illegal migrants, adding more than 18,000 new beds, according to an analysis by The Post.

ICE currently has roughly 59,000 illegal immigrants in custody as it nears capacity, which stood at 62,000 in April, according to internal data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

By the end of the Biden administration, ICE was holding roughly 39,000 illegal migrants, according to TRAC.

The Trump administration has already opened the doors to “Alligator Alcatraz,” a 2,000-bed detention center in the heart of Florida’s Everglades surrounded by alligators and pythons, and the “Speedway Slammer,” a 1,000-bed space at the Miami Correctional Facility, near Bunker Hill, Ind., in the Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base.

On Sunday, the “Lonestar Lockup” mega-facility opened at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas — with capacity for 1,000 beds and the ability to add 4,000 more.

But agency sources warned they’re still struggling to keep up with the lofty demands of the Trump administration’s deportation effort with still limited detention space.

“We don’t have detention beds available in our area of the country,” one source fumed.

“Without the bed space to detain everyone, cases are going to potentially be dropped, dismissed, released on bonds, or unreasonably detained pending their case’s completion. It’s inevitable without proper detention space,” said another source.

For the “Cornhusker Clink,” up to 280 criminal illegal migrants will be housed in the Work Ethic Camp in McCook in the south of the state after an agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the state’s Department of Corrections, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The 200-bed Work Ethic Camp in Nebraska, which was designed to minimize overcrowding in state prisons, will be expanded to ramp up deportations as part of the agreement.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen told The Post that the Cornhusker State “is stepping up its support of President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s immigration enforcement initiatives in several key ways.”

“I am pleased that our facility and team in McCook can be tasked with helping our federal partners protect our homeland by housing criminal illegal aliens roaming our country’s communities today,” he said.

Nebraska State Troopers and National Guard troops will also sign on to assist ICE with its mass deportation effort, Pillen said.

The Nebraska State Patrol will work alongside the feds through its 287(g) program, while 20 of the state’s soldiers will help ICE with administrative and logistical tasks.

Pillen said he’s “proud” of the effort.

“Homeland security starts at home, and, just as when I twice deployed troops to secure our southern border during the failed Biden administration, Nebraska will continue to do its part,” said Pillen.

The latest facility is being funded by money from the One Big Beautiful Bill, which will allow ICE to open 80,000 new detention beds, according to DHS.