Appearing on page A5, the story said the federal government had awarded a $385 million contract for the construction of "temporary detention facilities." These would be used, the story said, in the event of an "immigration emergency."
Jamie Zuieback, an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), explained such an emergency like this: "If, for example, there were some sort of upheaval in another country that would cause mass migration, that's the type of situation that the contract would address."
That sounds a tad fuzzy, but let's concede that the camps do have something to do with immigration, illegal or not. In fact, there already are thousands of beds in place at various U.S. locations for the purpose of housing illegal immigrants.
But for anyone familiar with history U.S. or European the construction of detention camps for whatever purpose should prompt a chilling scenario.
The new detention camps will be built by Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton. The latter, as you likely know, is the defense-related corporate giant with fists full of contracts involving the war in Iraq.
Halliburton was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000. Democrats in Congress have accused the administration of favoring the company via no-bid contracts. But KBR says the detention contract was competitive.
Tuesday's story also said the contract was awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers. However, Halliburton says it was awarded by the Department of Homeland Security in support of ICE.
The contract is for a year, but includes four one-year options. It is a renewal of an existing ICE contract, notes Halliburton. KBR, in fact, had the $9.7 million contract to build the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. This facility, popularly dubbed "Gitmo,"
KBR is awarded $385-million Homeland Security contract for "temporary" detention facilities
by Katherine Hunt, Dow Jones MarketWatch
Jan. 24, 2006
Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) announced today that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component has awarded KBR an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contingency contract to support ICE facilities in the event of an emergency. KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton.
With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five-year term, consisting of a one-year based period and four one-year options, the competitively awarded contract will be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005.
“We are especially gratified to be awarded this contract because it builds on our extremely strong track record in the arena of emergency operations support,” said Bruce Stanski, executive vice president, KBR Government and Infrastructure. “We look forward to continuing the good work we have been doing to support our customer whenever and wherever we are needed.”
The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs. The contingency support contract provides for planning and, if required, initiation of specific engineering, construction and logistics support tasks to establish, operate and maintain one or more expansion facilities.
The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other U.S. Government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster. In the event of a natural disaster, the contractor could be tasked with providing housing for ICE personnel performing law enforcement functions in support of relief efforts.
ICE is one of three agencies that make up the Border and Transportation Security (BTS) Directorate of the DHS. The mission of the BTS Directorate is to secure the nation’s air, land and sea borders. ICE, the largest investigative arm of the DHS, is responsible for identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities in the nation’s border, economic, transportation and infrastructure security.
KBR is a global engineering, construction, technology and services company. Whether designing an LNG facility, serving as a defense industry contractor, or providing small capital construction, KBR delivers world-class service and performance. KBR employs more than 60,000 people in 43 countries around the world.
Halliburton, founded in 1919, is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the petroleum and energy industries. The company serves its customers with a broad range of products and services through its Energy Services Group and KBR.
holds 660 prisoners classified by the government as "enemy combatants."
This column is written with the distinct feeling that not many people will give a hoot about any or all of this. But as already noted, a news story about construction of
government detention centers should give us all pause.
Considering what took place in Nazi Germany, as well as the shameful incarceration of Japanese-Americans in 1942, no detention camp should be built without the widest possible public scrutiny.
Bottom line: The contract cries out for greater attention. So far, the government's expressed reason for building them is insufficient and ill-defined. And even if the camps do relate to illegal immigration, their purpose could be changed overnight.
This is an instance in which we could be well served by our representatives in Congress. They need to look at this and give constituents a better picture of what is going on.
Let's not have it said, years from now, that no one ever questioned this.
Ashcroft's proposal: Concentration camps for American citizens
by Jonathan Turley, Los Angeles TimesAug. 14, 2002
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace.
Ashcroft's plan, disclosed last week but little publicized, would allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants.
The proposed camp plan should trigger immediate congressional hearings and reconsideration of Ashcroft's fitness for this important office. Whereas Al Qaeda is a threat to the lives of our citizens, Ashcroft has become a clear and present threat to our liberties.
The camp plan was forged at an optimistic time for Ashcroft's small inner circle, which has been carefully watching two test cases to see whether this vision could become a reality. The cases of Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi will determine whether U.S. citizens can be held without charges and subject to the arbitrary and unchecked authority of the government.
Hamdi has been held without charge even though the facts of his case are virtually identical to those in the case of John Walker Lindh. Both Hamdi and Lindh were captured in Afghanistan as foot soldiers in Taliban units. Yet Lindh was given a lawyer and a trial, while Hamdi rots in a floating Navy brig in Norfolk, Va.
This week, the government refused to comply with a federal judge who ordered that he be given the underlying evidence justifying Hamdi's treatment. The Justice Department has insisted that the judge must simply accept its declaration and cannot interfere with the president's absolute authority in "a time of war."
In Padilla's case, Ashcroft initially claimed that the arrest stopped a plan to detonate a radioactive bomb in New York or Washington, D.C. The administration later issued an embarrassing correction that there was no evidence Padilla was on such a mission. What is clear is that Padilla is an American citizen and was arrested in the United States--two facts that should trigger the full application of constitutional rights.
Ashcroft hopes to use his self-made "enemy combatant" stamp for any citizen whom he deems to be part of a wider terrorist conspiracy.
Perhaps because of his discredited claims of preventing radiological terrorism, aides have indicated that a "high-level committee" will recommend which citizens are to be stripped of their constitutional rights and sent to Ashcroft's new camps.
At this prison and numerous others around the world, U.S. authorities ignore human rights, the Geneva conventions, and any semblance of the rule of law.
Do you imagine that a government that runs amok, imprisoning people without charges, without safeguards in foreign countries, won't do the same within its own borders?
Few would have imagined any attorney general seeking to reestablish such camps for citizens. Of course, Ashcroft is not considering camps on the order of the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese American citizens in World War II. But he can be credited only with thinking smaller; we have learned from painful experience that unchecked authority, once tasted, easily becomes insatiable.
We are only now getting a full vision of Ashcroft's America. Some of his predecessors dreamed of creating a great society or a nation unfettered by racism. Ashcroft seems to dream of a country secured from itself, neatly contained and controlled by his judgment of loyalty.
For more than 200 years, security and liberty have been viewed as coexistent values. Ashcroft and his aides appear to view this relationship as lineal, where security must precede liberty.
Since the nation will never be entirely safe from terrorism, liberty has become a mere rhetorical justification for increased security.
Ashcroft is a catalyst for constitutional devolution, encouraging citizens to accept autocratic rule as their only way of avoiding massive terrorist attacks.
His greatest problem has been preserving a level of panic and fear that would induce a free people to surrender the rights so dearly won by their ancestors.
In "A Man for All Seasons," Sir Thomas More was confronted by a young lawyer, Will Roper, who sought his daughter's hand. Roper proclaimed that he would cut down every law in England to get after the devil.
More's response seems almost tailored for Ashcroft: "And when the last law was down and the devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? ... This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast ... and if you cut them down--and you are just the man to do it--do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?"
Every generation has had Ropers and Ashcrofts who view our laws and traditions as mere obstructions rather than protections in times of peril. But before we allow Ashcroft to denude our own constitutional landscape, we must take a stand and have the courage to say, "Enough."
Every generation has its test of principle in which people of good faith can no longer remain silent in the face of authoritarian ambition. If we cannot join together to fight the abomination of American camps, we have already lost what we are defending.
Video shows 'abandoned' rail yard behind prison-like bars
Where are these supposed 'concentration camps'?
by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
There's a rather well-known, fully functional American concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- you may have heard of it. At this prison and numerous others around the world, U.S. authorities ignore human rights, the Geneva conventions, and any semblance of the rule of law.
Do you imagine that a government that runs amok, imprisoning people without charges, without safeguards in foreign countries, won't do the same within its own borders?
Of course, we don't know where all of America's secret prisons are (that's the whole purpose of having secret prisons, after all). But here's a list of "confirmed suspicions" -- locations where we've heard there's far more fencing or security than the stated or abandoned status would seem to warrant, places where civilians are denied access for reasons not easily explained, surroundings that might look familiar to people who have lived under authoritarian regimes, or would make anyone accustomed to freedom immediately ill-at-ease.
Any government can build prisons and more prisons, and fill the prisons with anyone it wants in prison. Any nation can build concentration camps, gulags. To prevent such ghastly atrocities, America has established a system of justice, with safeguards to prevent innocent people from being punished.
The system ain't perfect, and often it malfunctions, but the idea is justice, so you're innocent until proven guilty, you're entitled to know what you're accused of, you're entitled to a lawyer, you're entitled to a public trial, and you're proven guilty only if and when the evidence accumulates beyond all reasonable doubt.
And even if you're found guilty, you're supposed to be protected from "cruel and unusual punishment."
This system, with its safeguards, is the only thing that stands between you and the gulags of the Soviet Union.
But under the Bush-Cheney administration, U.S. government is very, very determined to sidestep all safeguards, and go directly to the gulags.
How can I put this more plainly? Why aren't Americans alarmed, terrified?
The whole idea behind "secret prisons" seems to be, to eliminate the courtroom, to eliminate all the safeguards built into the American justice system. The American government now imprisons people by the thousands, without rights, without trials, without even letting anyone know who's been imprisoned.
There's a word for government without checks and balances, an absolute rulership unrestrained by law or Constitution. That word is tyranny, and if we are there yet we're within easy driving distance.
We invite readers to visit any of these sites that are nearby -- we'd very much welcome your accounts of such a visit (our email address is unknownnews at inbox.com). For some of these sites, perhaps there are plausible explanations that aren't all that ominous. But for other locations on this list, there can be no doubt what's planned ...
A list of "confirmed suspicions"
ALABAMA
Opelika -- Military compound either in or very near town
Aliceville -- WWII German POW camp, capacity 15,000
Ft. McClellan (Anniston) -- Opposite side of town from Army Depot
Maxwell Air Force Base (Montgomery) -- Civilian prison camp established under Operation Garden Plot, currently operating with support staff and small inmate population
Talladega -- Federal prison "satellite" camp
ALASKA
Eielson Air Force Base -- Southeast of Fairbanks. Operation Garden Plot facility
Elmendorf Air Force Base -- Northeast area of Anchorage, far end of base. Garden Plot facility
Ft. Wainwright -- East of Fairbanks
Wilderness -- East of Anchorage. No roads, Air and Railroad access only. Estimated capacity of 500,000
ARIZONA
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (Tucson) -- Fully staffed and presently holding prisoners
Florence -- WWII prison camp, now renovated and operational with staff and 400 prisoners, operational capacity of 3,500
Ft. Huachuca -- 20 miles from Mexican border, 30 miles from Nogales
Phoenix -- Federal Prison Satellite Camp. Main federal facility expanded
Pinal County -- on the Gila Riverm, a WWII Japanese detention camp.
Wickenburg -- Airport is ready for conversion; total capacity unknown
Yuma County -- on the Colorado River, site of former Japanese detention camp (near proving grounds). This site was completely removed in 1990, according to some reports
ARKANSAS
Berryville -- FEMA facility located east of Eureka Springs off Hwy. 62
Blythville Air Force Base -- Closed airbase now being used as camp. New wooden barracks have been constructed at this location. Classic decorations: guard towers, barbed wire, high fences
Ft. Chaffee (near Fort Smith, Arkansas) -- Has new runway for aircraft, new camp facility with capacity of 40,000 prisoners
Jerome -- Chicot/Drew Counties, site of WWII Japanese camps
Omaha -- Northeast of Berryville near Missouri state line, on Hwy 65 south of old wood processing plant.
Pine Bluff Arsenal -- This location also is the repository for B-Z nerve agent, which causes sleepiness, dizziness, stupor; admitted use is for civilian control
Rohwer -- Descha County, site of WWII Japanese camps
CALIFORNIA
Fort Ord -- Closed in 1994, this facility is now an urban warfare training center for troops, and may have some POW enclosures
Ft. Irwin -- FEMA facility near Barstow. Base is designated inactive but has staffed camp
Mather Air Force Base -- Road to facility is blocked off by cement barriers and a stop sign. Sign states area is restricted; barbed wire fences point inward, protecting what a friend has described as an old bomb storage facility ...
McClellan Air Force Base -- facility capable for 30,000 - 35,000
Norton Air Force Base -- Closed base, but 'staffed', according to some reports
Oakdale -- Camp capable of holding at least 20,000 people. 90 miles east of San Francisco
Sacramento -- Army Depot.
Terminal Island -- (Long Beach) located next to naval shipyards operated by ChiCom shipping interests. Federal prison facility located here.
Tule Lake -- area of "wildlife refuge", accessible by unpaved road, just inside Modoc County
Twentynine Palms Marine Base -- Birthplace of the infamous "Would you shoot American citizens?" Quiz. New camps being built on "back 40"
Vandenburg Air Force Base -- near Lompoc and Santa Maria. Facility is located near the oceanside, close to Space Launch Complex #6, also called "Slick Six".
COLORADO
Ft. Carson -- Along route 115 near Canon City
Granada -- Prowers County, WWII Japanese internment camp
Trinidad -- WWII German/Italian camp being renovated
FLORIDA
Avon Park -- Air Force gunnery range, Avon Park has an on-base "correctional facility" which was a former WWII detention camp
Camp Krome -- DoJ detention/interrogation center
Eglin Air Force Base -- This base is over 30 miles long, from Pensacola to Hwy 331 in De Funiak Springs. High capacity facility, presently manned and populated with some prisoners
Everglades -- It is believed that a facility may be carved out of the wilds here
Pensacola -- Federal Prison Camp
GEORGIA
Abbeville -- South of Hawkinsville on U.S.route 129; south of town off route 280 near Ocmulgee River. FEMA facility is staffed but without prisoners
Camilla -- Mitchell County, south of Albany. This FEMA facility is located on Mt. Zion Rd approximately 5.7 miles south of Camilla. Unmanned, no prisoners, no staff
Fort Gillem -- South side of Atlanta, FEMA designated detention facility
Fort Stewart -- Savannah area, FEMA designated detention facility
Ft. Benning -- Located east of Columbus near Alabama state line. Prisoners brought in via Lawson Army airfield
Ft. Gordon -- West of Augusta.
Ft. Mc Pherson -- Multiple reports that this will be the national headquarters and coordinating center for troop movement and detainee collection
Hawkinsville -- Wilcox County; five miles east of town, fully manned and staffed but no prisoners. Located on fire road 100/Upper River Road
McRae -- Telfair County, 1.5 miles west of McRae on Hwy 134 (8th St). Facility is on Irwinton Avenue off 8th St., manned and staffed, no prisoners
Morgan -- Calhoun County, FEMA facility is fully manned and staffed, no prisoners
Oglethorpe -- Macon County; facility is located five miles from Montezuma, three miles from Oglethorpe. This FEMA prison has no staff and no prisoners
Unadilla -- Dooly County. Manned, staffed FEMA prison on route 230, no prisoners
HAWAII
Barbers Point Naval Station
Halawa Heights area -- Area is marked as a state department of health laboratory.
Honolulu -- Detention transfer facility at the Honolulu airport similar in construction to the one in.Oklahoma (pentagon-shaped building where airplanes can taxi up to)
IDAHO
Clearwater National Forest -- Near Lolo Pass, just miles from the Montana state line near Moose Creek, this unmanned facility is reported to have a nearby airfield
Chanute Air Force Base -- Rantoul, near Champaign/Urbana. This closed base had WWII-era barracks that were condemned and torn down, but the medical facility was upgraded and additional fencing put up in the area.
Greenfield -- Two federal correctional "satellite prison camps"
Kankakee -- Abandoned industrial area on west side of town (Rt.17 & Main) designated as FEMA detention site. Equipped with water tower, incinerator, a small train yard behind it and the rear of the facility is surrounded by barbed wire facing inwards
Galesburg, Lincoln, Menard, Pontiac, Sheridan, -- State prison facilities equipped for major expansion and close or adjacent to highways and railroad tracks
Marion -- Federal Penitentiary and satellite prison camp inside Crab Orchard Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. Manned, staffed, populated fully
Marseilles -- Located on the Illinois River off Interstate 80 on Hwy 6. It is a relatively small facility with a capacity of 1400 prisoners. Though it is small it is designed like prison facilities with barred windows, military vehicles repeatedly seen. This facility is approximately 75 miles west of Chicago. National Guard training area nearby
Pekin -- This Federal satellite prison camp is also on the Illinois River, just south of Peoria. It supplements the federal penitentiary in Marion, which is equipped to handle additional population outside on the grounds
Savanna Army Depot -- NW area of state on Mississippi River
Scott Air Force Base -- Barbed wire prisoner enclosure, just off-base. Another facility on-base is beieved to exist.
Shawnee National Forest -- Pope County. This area has seen heavy traffic of military equipment and troops via Illinois Central Railroad, which runs through the area. Suspected location is unknown, but may be close to Vienna and Shawnee correctional centers, located 6 miles west of Dixon Springs
INDIANA
Camp Atterbury -- Facility is converted to hold prisoners and boasts two active compounds presently configured for minumum security detainees. Located just west of Interstate 65 near Edinburgh, south of Indianapolis
Crown Point -- Across street from county jail, former hospital. One wing presently being used for county work-release program, 80% of facility still unused. Possible FEMA detention center or holding facility
Fort Wayne -- This city located in Northeast Indiana has a FEMA designated detention facility, accessible by air, road and nearby rail
Ft. Benjamin Harrison -- Located in the northeast part of Indianapolis, this base has been decomissioned from "active" use but portions are still ideally converted to hold detainees. Helicopter landing areas still exist for prisoners to be brought in by air, land and rail
Grissom Air Force Base -- This closed airbase still handles a lot of traffic, and has a "state-owned" prison compound on the southern part of the facility
Hammond -- large enclosure identified in FEMA plans
Indianapolis/Marion County -- Amtrak railcar repair facility (closed). This large facility contains helicopter landing pads, railheads for prisoners, one-way turnstiles, barracks, towers, high fences with razor wire, etc. Personnel with government clearance took a guided tour of the facility to confirm this site. Located next to a closed refrigeration plant facility
Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area -- Youth Corrections farm located here. Facility is closed, but is still staffed and being renovated. Total capacity unknown
Jefferson Proving Grounds -- Southern Indiana. This facility was an active base with test firing occuring daily. Portions of the base have been opened to create an industrial park, but other areas are still highly restricted. A camp is believed to be located "downrange". Facility is equipped with an airfield and has a nearby rail line.
Kingsbury -- This closed military base is adjacent to a state fish and wildlife preserve. Part of the base is converted to an industrial park, but the southern portion of this property is still used. It is bordered on the south by railroad, and is reportedly staffed. A local police officer who was hunting and camping close to the base in the game preserve was accosted, roughed up, and warned by the English-speaking unit commander to stay away from the area. It was suggested to the officer that the welfare of his family would depend on his "silence". Located just southeast of LaPorte
Newport -- Army Depot. VX nerve gas storage facility.
Terre Haute -- Federal Correctional Institution, FEMA designated facility
KANSAS
Concordia -- WWII German POW camp used to exist at this location but there is no known facility there at this time
El Dorado -- Federal prison, UNICOR industries
Ft. Riley -- Just north of Interstate 70, airport, near city of Manhattan
Leavenworth -- U.S. Marshal's federal holding facility, U.S. Penitentiary, Federal Prison Camp, Federal death penalty facility
Topeka -- 80 acres has been converted into a temporary holding camp
KENTUCKY
Ashland -- Federal prison camp in Eastern Kentucky near the Ohio River
Ft. Knox -- Detention center, located near Salt River, in restricted area of base.
Land Between the Lakes -- This area was declared a U.N. biosphere and is an ideal geographic location for detention facilities. Area is an isthmus extending out from Tennessee, between Lake Barkley on the east and Kentucky Lake on the west. Just scant miles from Fort Campbell in Tennessee.
Lexington -- FEMA detention facility, National Guard base with adjacent airport facility
Louisville -- FEMA detention facility, located near restricted area U.S. naval ordnance plant. Military airfield located at facility, which is on south side of city
Manchester -- Federal prison camp located inside Dan Boone National Forest
LOUISIANA
Ft. Polk -- This is a main base for troops and personnel, and a training center
Livingston -- WWII internment camp being renovated; halfway between Baton Rouge and Hammond, several miles north of Interstate 12
Oakdale -- Located on U.S. route 165 about 50 miles south of Alexandria; two federal detention centers just southeast of Fort Polk
MAINE
Houlton -- WWII internment camp in Northern Maine, off U.S. Route 1
MARYLAND
Ft. Detrick -- Biological warfare center, located in Frederick
Ft. Meade -- Halfway between the District of Criminals and Baltimore.
MASSACHUSETTS
Camp Edwards/Otis Air Force Base -- This inactive base is being renovated.
Ft. Devens -- Active detention facility.
MICHIGAN
Bay City -- Classic enclosure with guard towers, high fence, and close to shipping port on Saginaw Bay, which connects to Lake Huron.
Camp Grayling -- Michigan Nat'l Guard base has several confirmed detention camps, classic setup with high fences, razor wire, etc. Guard towers are very well-built, sturdy. Multiple compounds within larger enclosures. Facility deep within forest area.
Lansing -- FEMA detention facility
Sawyer Air Force Base -- Upper Peninsula, south of Marquette.
Southwest -- Berrien County, FEMA detention center
MINNESOTA
Camp Ripley -- new prison facility
Duluth -- Federal prison camp facility
MISSOURI
Ft. Leonard Wood -- Situated in the middle of Mark Twain National Forest in Pulaski County. This site has been home to the U.S. Army Urban Warfare Training school.
Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base -- located in Grandview, near K.C.MO. A very large facility has been built on this base, and all base personnel are restricted from coming near it.
MONTANA
Malmstrom Air Force Base
NEBRASKA
Northwest, Northeast corners of state. FEMA detention facilities
Scottsbluff -- WWII German POW camp
South Central part of state -- Many old WWII sites
NEVADA
Elko -- Ten miles south of town
Nellis Air Force Range -- Northwest from Las Vegas on Route 95. Nellis Air Force Base is just north of Las Vegas on Hwy 604
Pershing County -- Camp is located at I-80 mile marker 112, south side of the highway, about a mile back on the county road and then just off the road about 3/4 mile
Stillwater Naval Air Station -- east of Reno.
Wells -- Camp is located in the O'Niel basin area, 40 miles north of Wells, past Thousand Springs, west off Hwy 93 for 25 miles
Winnemucca -- Battle Mountain area, at the base of the mountains
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Northern New Hampshire -- near Lake Francis.
NEW JERSEY
Ft. Dix/McGuire Air Force Base
NEW MEXICO
Fort Stanton -- currently being used as a youth detention facility approximately 35 miles north of Ruidoso, New Mexico.
Ft. Bliss -- This base actually straddles Texas state line. Just south of Alomogordo, Ft. Bliss has thousands of acres
Holloman Air Force Base (Alomogordo) -- New facility being built on this base, according to recent visitors.
White Sands Missile Range -- Currently being used as a storage facility for vehicles and equipment. Observers have seen this material brought in on the Whitesands rail spur in Oro Grande New Mexico about thirty miles from the Texas, New Mexico Border
NEW YORK
Albany -- FEMA detention facility
Buffalo -- FEMA detention facility
Ft. Drum -- two compounds: Detention camp and FEMA detention facility
Otisville -- Federal correctional facility, near Middletown
NORTH CAROLINA
Camp Lejeune/New River Marine Airfield -- facility has renovated, occupied WWII detention compounds and "mock city" that closely resembles Anytown, USA
Fort Bragg -- Special Warfare Training Center. Renovated WWII detention facility
NORTH DAKOTA
Minot Air Force Base.
OHIO
Camp Perry -- Site renovated; once used as a POW camp to house German and Italian prisoners of WWII. Some tar paper covered huts built for housing these prisoners are still standing. Recently, the construction of multiple 200-man barracks have replaced most of the huts.
Lima -- FEMA detention facility. Another facility located in/near old stone quarry near Interstate 75. Railroad access to property, fences etc.
OKLAHOMA
El Reno -- Renovated federal facility with current population of 12,000 on Route 66
Ft. Sill (Lawton) -- Former WWII detention camps.
McAlester -- near Army Munitions Plant property, former WWII German/Italian POW camp designated for future use
Tinker Air Force Base (Oklahoma City) -- All base personnel are prohibited from going near civilian detention area, which is under constant guard
Will Rogers World Airport -- FEMA's main processing center for west of the Mississippi. All personnel are kept out of the security zone. Federal prisoner transfer center located here.
OREGON
Josephine County -- WWII Japanese internment camp.
Sheridan -- Federal prison satellite camp northwest of Salem
Sheridan -- FEMA detention center
PENNSYLVANIA
Allenwood -- Federal prison camp located south of Williamsport on the Susquehanna River. It has a current inmate population of 300, and is identified by William Pabst as having a capacity in excess of 15,000 on 400 acres
Camp Hill -- State prison close to Army depot. Lots of room, located in Camp Hill, Pa.
Indiantown Gap Military Reservation -- located north of Harrisburg. Used for WWII POW camp and renovated during Carter administration. Was used to hold Cubans during Mariel boat lift.
New Cumberland Army Depot -- on the Susquehanna River, located off Interstate 83 and Interstate 76
Schuylkill Haven -- Federal prison camp, north of Reading
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston -- Naval Reserve and Air Force base, restricted area on naval base
Greenville -- Unoccupied youth prison camp; total capacity unknown
SOUTH DAKOTA
Black Hills Nat'l Forest -- north of Edgemont, southwest part of state. WWII internment camp being renovated.
Yankton -- Federal prison camp
TENNESSEE
Crossville -- Site of WWII German/Italian prison camp has been renovated; completed barracks and behind the camp in the woods is a training facility with high tight ropes and a rappelling deck.
Ft. Campbell -- Next to Land Between the Lakes; adjacent to airfield and U.S. Alt. 41
Millington -- Federal prison camp next door to Memphis Naval Air Station
Nashville -- There are two buildings built on State property that are definitely built to hold prisoners. They are identical buildings, side by side on Old Briley Parkway. High barbed wire fence that curves inward.
TEXAS
Amarillo -- FEMA designated detention facility
Austin -- Robert Mueller Municipal airport has detenion areas inside hangars.
Beaumont/Port Arthur area -- hundreds of acres of federal camps already built on large-scale detention camp design, complete with the double rows of chain link fencing with razor type concertina wire on top of each row. Some (but not all) of these facilities are currently being used for low-risk state prisoners who require a minimum of supervision.
Eden -- 1500 bed privately run federal center. Currently holds illegal aliens.
Ft. Bliss (El Paso) -- Extensive renovation of buildings, surrounded by razor wire
Ft. Hood (Killeen) -- Newly built facility, with towers, barbed wire etc., just like the one featured in the movie Amerika. Mock city for urban warfare training.
Ft. Worth -- Federal prison under construction on the site of Carswell Air Force Base.
Mexia -- East of Waco 33 miles; WWII German prisoners facility
North Dallas -- near Carrolton, close to interstate and railroad.
Reese Air Force Base (Lubbock) -- FEMA designated detention facility
Sheppard Air Force Base -- in Wichita Falls just south of Ft. Sill, OK. FEMA designated detention facility
UTAH
Cedar City -- East of city.
Ft. Douglas -- This inactive military reservation has a renovated WWII concentration camp.
Migratory Bird Refuge -- West of Brigham City, contains a WWII internment camp that was built before the game preserve was established.
Millard County -- Central Utah WWII Japanese camp.
Skull Valley -- southwestern Camp William property, east of the old bombing range, southwest of Tooele
Wendover -- WWII internment camp
VIRGINIA
Ft. A.P. Hill (Fredericksburg) -- FEMA facility. Estimated capacity 45,000
Petersburg -- Federal satellite prison camp, south of Richmond
WEST VIRGINIA
Alderson, Beckley, Lewisburg -- Former WWII detention camps that are now converted into active federal prison complexes capable of holding several times their current populations. Alderson is presently a women's federal reformatory
Kingwood -- Newly built detention camp at Camp Dawson Army Reservation.
Mill Creek -- FEMA detention facility
Morgantown -- Federal prison camp located in northern WV; just north of Kingwood
WASHINGTON
Ft. Lewis/McChord Air Force Base -- near Tacoma
Okanogan County -- Borders Canada and is a site for a massive facility capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people
Sand Point Naval Station -- Seattle, FEMA detention center used actively during the 1999 WTO protests to classify prisoners.
Seattle/Tacoma -- SeaTac Airport: fully operational federal transfer center
WISCONSIN
Ft. McCoy -- Facility with several complete interment compounds
Oxford -- Central part of state. Federal prison and staellite camp and FEMA detention facility
WYOMING
East Yellowstone -- Manned facility. Federal government assumed custody of the persons and arranged their release.
Heart Mountain -- Park County north of Cody, WWII Japanese interment camp.
Laramie -- FEMA detention facility
Southwest -- near Lyman, FEMA detention facility
OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
There are many other locations not listed above that are worthy of consideration as a possible detention camp site, but due to space limitations and the time needed to verify, could not be included here. Virtually all military reservations, posts, bases, stations, and depots; and "regional Airports" and "International Airports" also fall under federal jurisdiction and have limited-access areas. Mental hospitals, closed hospitals and nursing homes, closed military bases, wildlife refuges, state prisons, toxic waste dumps, hotels and other areas all have varying degrees of potential for being a detention camp area.
The likelihood of a site being suspect increases with transportation access to the site, including airports/airstrips, railheads, navigable waterways and ports, interstate and U.S. highways. Some facilities may be "disguised" as industrial or commercial properties, camouflaged or even wholly contained inside large buildings or factories.
And of course, the best location for a secret detention center would be somewhere where we wouldn't suspect anything ...
Feel free to dismiss us as nuts, if that makes you more comfortable. We often reassure ourselves that things can't possibly be as bad as we're worried that they are. Then again, the history of the world, virtually without exception, shows that governments given great power have abused that power, and no government in the world's history has ever had the power of present-day America (with the possible exception of Communist China or the U.S.S.R. -- not exactly reassuring exceptions).
CANADA
Our Canadian friends tell us that virtually all Canadian military bases, especially those north of the 50th Parallel, are all set up with extensive detention facilities. Here are a few sites with the massive land space to handle any population:
Ft. McPherson -- Very cold, in the Northwest Territories
Ft. Nelson -- Northernmost point on the BC Railway line
Ft. Providence -- Located on Great Slave Lake
Halifax -- Nova Scotia. Dept. of National Defense reserve ...
Primrose Lake Air Range -- 70 miles northeast of Edmonton
Suffield CFB -- just north of Medicine Hat, less than 60 miles from the USA
Wainwright CFB -- halfway between Medicine Hat and Primrose Lake
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