Thomson Correctional Center: a Prison for Alleged Terrorists?

Thomson is a rural Illinois village about 70 miles west of Rockford. The village of 559 people is less than one mile from the Mississippi River and is home to the Thomson Correctional Center.

Last week, the Rockford City Council voted to support the Thomson plan, a joint effort by federal and state officials to convert the Thomson Correctional Center to a maximum-security prison to detain about 100 terrorist suspects. The plan would require the federal government to purchase the prison from the state of Illinois.

Political support for the Thomson plan is split along party lines, perhaps because most people see a move like transporting suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to Thomson as a victory for the Obama Administration.

This might be why so many prominent politicians and lawmakers, such as Governor Quinn, have expressed their support for the Thomson plan. Dick Durbin, a U.S. Senator from Illinois, recently toured the Thomson center with other lawmakers to galvanize support for the plan.

Whether support for President Obama is a factor even considered, many proponents of the Thomson plan point to the economic benefits as the most persuasive reason to support the plan. The Rockford Register Star reports that the Thomson plan may create as many as 3,600 jobs and up to one billion dollars.

The Thomson Correctional Center currently houses about 150 inmates, but has the capacity to hold about 1,600. Some say that filling these unused cells only makes sense in troubled economic times, such as these.

A similar debate occurred in the 1990s, when Thomson residents sparred over whether it was a good idea to build the prison to begin with. Here too, the economy was major consideration in the decision to bring the prison to Thomson.

Those who are leery to support the Thomson plan have also been reassured by the fact terrorist suspects will not be tried in Illinois courts.

Nevertheless, the prospect of economic development is becoming exceedingly persuasive. Elmer Monshower is a resident of Thomson, and his perspective is telling:
Mr. Monshower told the New York Times, “So long as the terrorists leave our duck stands alone and our deer stands alone, we’re tickled to have them—everyone needs jobs.”