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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Heather Hollingsworth and John Hanna

Leavenworth, Kansas, relents and will allow a private prison to reopen and house immigrants

Immigrant Detention Leavenworth - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A Kansas town known for its prisons is allowing a shuttered private prison to reopen and house immigrants detained for living in the U.S. illegally after a nearly yearlong legal fight amid a massive national push for new detention centers.

The City Commission in Leavenworth on Tuesday approved a permit to private prison operator CoreCivic. Members voted 4-1 to approve a three-year permit with conditions that set minimum staffing levels, ban the housing of minors and provide for a city oversight committee.

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