‘Hard to comprehend’: Some in McCook protest ‘Cornhusker Clink’ announcement

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A protest was organized on Facebook on Tuesday after news circulated that an immigration detention center was coming to McCook.

The organizer, Hannah Clapper, said the goal was to give people a safe place to express how they feel in front of the man making this decision, Gov. Jim Pillen.

“I feel that the community didn’t have much of a choice, or even a say-so in it at all,” she said.

SEE ALSO: ‘Cornhusker Clink’: Nebraska’s Work Ethic Camp will become ICE detention center

Protesters met at the Ben Nelson Regional Airport 30 minutes before the anticipated arrival of Pillen’s plane, holding up signs with the hope that he would notice their messages.

The Work Ethic Camp will be turned into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, called the “Cornhusker Clink.”

Officials hope to expand the facility so it can house up to 300 migrants.

POLL: Do you support using McCook prison as an ICE facility?

Clapper is worried about the risks a facility like this could bring to a small community like McCook.

“A lot of people move here because they want to be safe and they want to be away from the city,” she said.

Clapper noted that many inmates have escaped from the Work Ethic Camp and worries the same could happen with the detainees, even if they may not be dangerous.

“When you come here, and you bring all that to us from all of Nebraska, it’s just hard to comprehend,” she said.

She said a handful of people in support of the facility were also at the airport, although most did not have signs.

Clapper said she respects their voice, too.

“I’m not trying to encourage you to believe something that you don’t believe,” she said. “I just want people to come together and think about the change that this is going to make.”