Nebraska hearing draws broad opposition, questions over plan to convert McCook 'Work Ethic Camp' into ICE detention center

Lincoln — Nebraska lawmakers and more than 70 public testifiers pressed state officials and witnesses on an administration plan to convert the Work Ethic Camp (WEC) near McCook into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, citing unresolved safety, legal and operational questions.

“Who has jurisdiction?” asked Sen. Terrell McKinney (D–Omaha), chair of the Urban Affairs Committee, as he opened the committee’s public hearing. McKinney repeatedly criticized the governor’s office and the Department of Correctional Services for declining to appear and answer questions in public.

The hearing centered on the August announcement that Governor Jim Pillen had offered WEC — a minimum‑security state facility currently housing people in transitional programming — to federal immigration authorities. Doug Coeburnick, the Legislature’s Inspector General of Corrections, told senators WEC was “originally designed for 100 people” and has housed as many as about 200; his office reported the facility’s operational capacity as 125. Coeburnick said the housing unit is dormitory style with three 50‑bed galleries and two smaller galleries (24 and 26 beds), plus multipurpose rooms, a cafeteria that doubles as visitation space, and vocational and classroom space.

Coeburnick warned senators of two immediate concerns if state usage changes: “First, where will the men who have been at WEC or would have…