Shuttered New Mexico prison may reopen to hold migrants

A closed private prison in central New Mexico may reopen to hold immigrants being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Torrance County Commission is set to vote Wednesday on whether to sign an agreement with ICE and reopen the Torrance County Detention Facility owned by the Nashville, Tennessee-based CoreCivic.

The prison has been closed since October 2017.

Commission Chair Ryan Schwebach says the town of Estancia and Torrance County were hit hard by the closure because the area saw the loss of good paying jobs.

County officials say the reopened prison will provide more than 200 jobs and house over 700 inmates.

CoreCivic operates one of the largest private prison systems in the United States.

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