County Fight Contested

Appleton MN — CoreCivic's Shuttered Prison Targeted for ICE Detention

Swift, MN FIPS 27151

Current status: Escalated past a proposal: ICE contract awarded Aug 3, 2026; DHS bought the 1,600-bed Prairie facility from CoreCivic on Aug 4 for $495.6M; first detainees expected Q4 2026. Swift County (unanimous, Sept 15) and the City of Appleton (Sept 9) accepted non-binding payment memoranda from CoreCivic. Thursday protests since late July; Aug 20 roundtable drew about 150.

The Fight

The Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota is a 1,600-bed private prison owned by CoreCivic, shut down in 2010. In August 2025, internal ICE records obtained by the Washington Post named it as part of a plan to expand detention to 100,000+ beds.

CoreCivic confirmed it was “exploring opportunities” with ICE to reactivate the facility. On September 30, 2025, dozens of faith leaders and community members protested in Appleton.

If activated, it would be one of the nation’s largest immigration detention facilities.

Why This Fight Matters

Prairie Correctional illustrates the CoreCivic reactivation model — the same dynamic as La Palma in Pinal County AZ. Empty private prison beds are a standing invitation for ICE detention. The facility is already built, already zoned, and CoreCivic already owns it. No purchase needed, no zoning change, no community vote. The only barrier is the contract negotiation between CoreCivic and ICE.

As of April 2026, no contract had been signed, but the threat remained active.

Update (2026-06-05): Formal DHS/GSA contract solicitation posted

On Thursday, June 4, 2026, DHS posted a proposed contract on a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) website to use the Prairie Correctional Facility to hold up to 1,600 immigrant detainees, with services including medical care and transportation. The solicitation states ICE needs more beds to “meet the administration’s interior enforcement and border decompression goals.”

This is a significant escalation from the August 2025 “exploring opportunities” posture: the proposal is now a concrete, posted federal procurement action. CoreCivic reiterated, “We continue to market our Prairie Correctional Facility and explore opportunities with government partners.” DHS publicly hedged that it has “no new detention centers to announce at this time” while confirming ICE is “actively working to expand detention space.”

Context: Prairie is the only privately owned prison in Minnesota (CoreCivic bought it in 1997, closed it in 2010). Appleton sits in Swift County (FIPS 27151), ~150 miles west of Minneapolis. A 1,600-bed activation would dwarf Minnesota’s existing IGSA county-jail capacity (~500 total across Crow Wing, Freeborn, Kandiyohi, Sherburne) and would partly onshore the out-of-state transfer pipeline (see minnesota-ice-transfer-pipeline-nebraska). It would also be a fresh target for the legislative ban effort (HF 3060 / HF 3886) and the ACLU/taxpayer-standing litigation model. Note timing: the proposal lands just as the Senate approved ~$70B in new ICE/Border Patrol funding, the financial backdrop for nationwide bed expansion.

Update (2026-10-15): ICE contract awarded, DHS buys the facility, county and city accept payment memoranda

This section supersedes the June 5 “no award yet” status above, and the earlier line that no purchase would be needed: the federal government bought the building.

Contract. ICE awarded the Prairie contract on August 3, 2026; CoreCivic’s Q2 release says first detainees are expected in Q4 2026 (CoreCivic Q2 2026 release, SEC exhibit 99.1).
Sale. On August 4, 2026 DHS bought the Prairie facility (1,600 beds) for $495.6 million (CoreCivic 8-K, SEC). Federal property is not taxed, so the sale changed Swift County’s tax roll.
Protest. Critics have protested on Thursday evenings near the prison since late July (Star Tribune, Aug 5, 2026). About 150 people attended an August 20 roundtable, where the Appleton area was reported to be facing a loss of more than $800,000 a year in revenue (Minnesota Reformer, Aug 20, 2026).
County memorandum. CoreCivic had been paying $116,503 a year in county property tax. The county board approved a memorandum of understanding unanimously on September 15: $200,000 (2026), then $540,000 a year (West Central Tribune).
City memorandum. The Appleton City Council accepted its memorandum on September 9: $1.5 million, then $1.26 million a year (West Central Tribune).
Non-binding. The county memorandum says it “does not constitute a legally binding or enforceable contract” (Swift County Board of Commissioners, Sept 15, 2026 meeting packet). The board approved it with the notice period changed from 30 to 90 days; the signed text was not obtained.

Dates here are as reported: Aug 3 is the contract award, Aug 4 the sale, Sept 9 and Sept 15 the city and county acceptance votes.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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