Overview

The West Tennessee Detention Facility is a 600-bed ICE detention center in Mason, Tipton County, Tennessee, operated by CoreCivic. The facility is a former state prison that had been idle since September 2021 (closed during the Biden administration). It was reopened under a new intergovernmental services agreement (IGSA) between the City of Mason and ICE, with CoreCivic as the operator.

Key Details

• Capacity: 600 beds (initial intake capped at 500)
• Operator: CoreCivic (for-profit, headquartered in Nashville, TN)
• Contract type: IGSA between City of Mason and ICE
• Reopened: September 8, 2025
• First detainees arrived: September 2025 (initially 20-25)
• Population by end of 2025: ~450 detainees
• Jobs created: ~240 positions, starting pay $26.50/hour for detention officers
• Economic impact: ~$325,000/year in property taxes + $200,000+ annual impact fee to Town of Mason
• Approval: Mason town officials approved the agreements on August 12, 2025, over loud objections from residents and activists during a contentious public meeting

This is Tennessee’s first dedicated ICE detention facility since Trump’s second term began. It serves as the primary detention facility for the western Tennessee region, receiving detainees from the Memphis area and beyond. The reopening is significant because it provides local detention capacity for the Memphis Safe Task Force operations.

2026 Updates

• Warden: Trinity Minter, named warden June 2025 (career began as a correctional officer in 1998)
• ICE Office of Detention Oversight inspection: conducted March 10–12, 2026 (compliance inspection report posted to ICE site; report record updated Apr 22, 2026). This is the facility’s first ODO inspection since reopening — worth monitoring for documented deficiencies as the population grows.
• National context: 2026 is on track to be one of the deadliest years in ICE detention history (17th in-custody death announced by mid-May 2026; roughly one death every six days nationally per CNN/NPR reporting), driven in part by understaffed medical teams and populations exceeding planned capacity. CoreCivic (the Mason operator) was separately sanctioned in May 2026 by a federal judge for destroying video evidence in a wrongful-death suit over a 2022 detainee death at its Torrance County (NM) facility — relevant to oversight risk at all CoreCivic ICE sites including Mason.
• Facility used to hold Memphis-area detainees including high-profile cases (e.g., student Yasser Lopez Soza, held at Mason before an April 2026 federal court-ordered release — see Shelby County entry).

Sources

• 1st detainees have arrived at former West Tennessee prison (Action News 5, Sep 2025)
• CoreCivic Announces New Contract Award (CoreCivic, 2025)
• West Tenn. town approves CoreCivic facility after chaotic meeting (Tennessee Lookout, Aug 2025)
• CoreCivic, Town of Mason see financial boost (WKRN, 2025)
• Small Tennessee town divided over new ICE detention facility (CBS News)
• West Tennessee Detention Facility (ICE)
• 2026 Western Tennessee Detention Facility, Mason, TN — ODO inspection Mar. 10-12, 2026 (ICE)
• Western Tennessee Detention Facility (Global Detention Project)
• Exclusive: How understaffing and DHS policy drives rising deaths in ICE detention centers (CNN, May 15, 2026)
• Judge Sanctioned CoreCivic for Destroying Video in ICE Death Suit (The Intercept, May 24, 2026)