INDIANAPOLIS — The State Budget Committee has approved more than $15 million to help prepare the Miami County Correctional Facility, dubbed the "Speedway Slammer," to serve as a federal immigration detention center.
The Indiana Department of Correction requested nearly $15.8 million to upgrade the facility and purchase equipment, according to the official contract and intergovernmental service agreement between the IDOC and ICE. The state expects to be reimbursed for the approved funding.
The agreement between ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the facility is set to begin September 30. The documents show ICE will be provided with 1,000 beds, and Indiana will receive a per-diem of $291 per detained person for 60 days.
Democratic State Rep. Greg Porter sent a letter to the IDOC last month questioning the cost of the partnership to taxpayers and made a motion to remove the appropriation from the agenda, but the motion failed.
"I feel like I'm stuck in the Twilight Zone," Porter said. "Republicans continue to make baffling decisions that contradict reality. Indiana doesn't have money for this right now, and rebounding revenues and reimbursement don't change that fact. We're living in hard times, but you wouldn't know it from the actions of the majority."
Porter criticized the state's priorities, saying lawmakers couldn't find money to avoid cuts to social services but found funds for the detention center. He pointed to farmers facing declining soybean sales from tariffs, parents struggling to afford pre-K and child care, and the state's most vulnerable residents sitting on waitlists for health care services.
"That's Republicans' financial priority," Porter said. "Let's not forget that DHS's other facility, 'Alligator Alcatraz,' has been accused of inhumane conditions and the mistreatment of detainees. None of this matters to them since Trump will continue to get whatever he wants from the Braun administration."
