Republican senator opposes planned ICE detention center in Mississippi

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker on Wednesday told Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem he ​opposed plans to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention ‌facility in Mississippi.

The Trump administration is in the final stages of acquiring a warehouse ‌facility in Byhalia, Mississippi, that it intends to convert into a federal immigration detention center, Wicker said in a letter to Noem.

"While I support the enforcement of immigration law, I write to express my opposition ⁠to this acquisition and ‌the proposed detention center," the senator wrote.

The facility, if opened by the Trump administration, would have a capacity ‍of more than 8,500 beds, according to Wicker, who added that the town does not have the necessary medical and human services infrastructure to support such ​a detainee population.

He said the site under consideration by the Department ‌of Homeland Security is already positioned for another economic development that would provide job creation and private investment opportunities.

Wicker, the senior Mississippi representative in the U.S. Senate, said opening a detention center would prevent economic growth opportunities.

"Many of my constituents have voiced concerns regarding the public ⁠safety, medical capacity, and economic impacts this ​center would impose on their communities," Wicker ​added. "Proceeding with this acquisition without adequately addressing these issues disregards community input."

The Department of Homeland Security, which has federal ‍oversight of immigration, ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As of last month, ICE had more the 70,000 detainees in over 200 ⁠facilities. The Byhalia facility would accommodate President Donald Trump's goal to increase immigration ‌detentions during his second year in office.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward ‌in Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols)