Nov 16, 2009 10:05 pm US/Central
Feds Visit Potential Gitmo Site In Illinois
Thomson Representatives Meet With Government About Idea To Bring Terror Suspects To Their Community
THOMSON, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Locals of the northwestern Illinois town of Thomson are debating whether the state prison there should be converted into a federal pen for Guantanamo Bay detainees.
CBS
A prison in a tiny Illinois town is now in the world spotlight. It could soon house some of the most notorious terror suspects on earth.
Federal officials on Monday visited sleepy little Thomson -- population about 600 in northwestern Illinois, near the Iowa border.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole was there to hear the local debate.
Things are happening so fast for the people of Thomson, they're still having trouble processing it all. Monday, a delegation from the Federal Bureau of Prisons as well as another from the Department of Defense toured the prison. They also met with about two dozen community leaders -- people anxious about new jobs, but also concerned about safety.
Thomson is small enough you could drive through it in a minute, but stop by Dusty's Pizza and Subs for a moment and they'll talk for hours about the possible new neighbors moving into the prison up the road.
"You don't want to know what I think they should do to those terrorists -- because it wouldn't be very nice," Sue Spittler said. "I don't like to see the terrorists here."
But John Letcher is not as fearful.
"I think it's about time they get something done out there," he said.
Ever since the state prison opened eight years ago, the people of Thomson have been waiting for promised jobs and prosperity that never arrived. Still, some question if it's worth 1,600 federal prisoners -- roughly 100 of them terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"I been in that prison and I guarantee you if you get out of there, you are going to look like hamburger," Letcher said.
Those hoping for more work from a facility employing 2,000 are weighing the pros and cons.
"I suppose it's a great thing if they move in here and nobody gets killed," Bryan Harvilla of Thomson said.
Bill Heid's local firm manufactures solar panels. He welcomes economic growth and calmly examines the risks of housing suspected terrorists close by.
"I wouldn't worry about the prison, necessarily -- someone breaking out as much as I would be concerned about what the prison might bring in," he said.
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, both Democrats, have endorsed the idea of selling the Thomson prison to the feds.
"Over a four year period of time, a billion dollars of economic activity would occur because we have a new federal prison located in our state," Quinn said.
But Illinois Republicans have plenty of problems with it. Congressmen Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam joined Reps. Don Manzullo and Judy Biggert to denounce it.
"With the busiest airport in the world and the tallest building in North America, I do not think that we should make Chicagoland the center of Jihadi attention in the world," Kirk said.
Some of the locals who attended Monday's meeting said they appreciated the candor of the federal officials, although they didn't learn too much new that wasn't already reported over the weekend. One point of clarification, though: A Department of Defense spokesman said the only person that would be able to visit a detainee would be their legal counsel.
Critics of the prison-conversion idea said there would be an influx of visitors for the terrorism suspects, making Illinois vulnerable to attacks.
"To talk about visitations -- that is just patently false and to repeat it today, it's all about fear," countered Durbin.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine contributed to this report.
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