How CoreCivic strong-armed Leavenworth into opening ICE prison | Opinion
Last week, the Leavenworth City Commission voted to allow CoreCivic to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in the same space it once ran a prison described by a federal judge as an “absolute hell hole.”
Chronic understaffing. Medical negligence. Forced labor. Sexual assault. Failure to protect. Extortion. The list of lawsuits against the for-profit prison company is long.
In fact, CoreCivic is such a troubled employer, such a negligent entity, that Leavenworth — a prison town — didn’t want this prison in its community. So why, then, did members of the commission vote yes last Tuesday?
Not because they think CoreCivic will provide safe jobs for the community. Not because they support the illegal detention of our immigrant neighbors.
It all comes down to money.
If Leavenworth had voted no, the legal fight would drained resources from services its residents depend on — services that repair roads, serve older adults and maintain parks.
What we saw in Leavenworth was an example of what happens when a corporation grows so large, so legally resourced and so financially intertwined with government contracts that it can pressure a city simply by threatening litigation.
One of the tools often raised in these fights is the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, a part of the Constitution intended to protect individual property rights that, in this case, could have become leverage in a corporate power struggle.
The Fifth Amendment states that private property can’t be taken for public use without “just compensation.” Usually that refers to eminent domain — when government physically takes land for a highway or school.
But there’s another category known as a “regulatory taking.” A corporation can argue that if a city’s zoning rules or permit decisions prevent it from using property for its intended purpose — in this case an ICE facility — the regulation effectively “takes” the property’s value, and therefore the government must pay.
Courts typically set a high bar for these claims, putting the onus on the owner to show that the city’s no vote renders the facility economically worthless. But even if Leavenworth could have eventually won the fight, it couldn’t afford the battle.
Cities have pushed back — Denver, for example. But Leavenworth’s annual budget of $62.9 million is no match against CoreCivic’s expected 2026 revenue: a whopping $2.5 billion. This debate is not simply about prisons or immigration policy. It’s about local self-determination. No city should feel compelled to surrender its planning authority because defending it is too expensive.
And no corporation — no matter how large — should be big enough to strong-arm a city into voting yes. Especially this corporation. If you want to know why, just Google “CoreCivic” and “lawsuit” for a look at how it operates.
Martha Lawrence is co-founder of Boots on the Ground Midwest, a nonpartisan organization committed to mobilizing people to resist authoritarianism and preserve democracy.
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 5:01 AM.