By JIM BUTLER
Dollars and decency, some say, clash at the corner of Frank Andrews Blvd. & Van Gossen Ave.
Put in that context, dollars are winning.
Though not on the posted draft agenda, more complaints about a 528-bed facility for “self-deporting” illegal alien families and children may be voiced at Thursday’s England Authority meeting during comment on proposed demonstration/protest permitting rules, but reality is right next door.
Fencing’s going up, shrubbery screening’s going up, modular housing is on site, plumbers, electricians and other craftsmen are busy.
The Authority’s Intergovernmental Support Agreement with ICE pays about $535,000 a year to lease two former barracks and 10 acres. The five-year agreement has a five-year extension clause.
At this point the barracks seem untouched, perhaps an asbestos removal issue, but the acreage is getting an overhaul.
A potential $5.3 million revenue stream fits well in the Authority’s budget. Clearly such a facility isn’t what Airpark creators envisioned 30 years ago, but things change, some say.
And, they note, attendant spending for goods, services, personnel, etc. is measurable economic development.
At what incalculable human costs?, a growing group of critics ask.
LaSalle Corrections and an affiliated non-profit agreed at the end of June to build and operate the 72-hour holding center.
Construction costs are not indicated.
England is the logical site selection for the center. More than 4,400 deportation flights departed AEX in 2025, by far the most of any U.S. airport, published studies show.
Creating the center helps ICE break a logjam that can occur when it wants to move children from foster care or recognized shelters since it cannot house unaccompanied children in its facilities.
The ICE-LaSalle pact, records indicate, stipulates those housed at the center cannot be called “prisoners, detainees or inmates.”
Tell that to the temporary residents, opponents counter.
