Democratic US senator probes CoreCivic sale of ICE facility in Minnesota

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) – A top US Democratic senator is investigating the Trump administration’s nearly half-billion-dollar purchase of a Minnesota immigration detention facility from CoreCivic, questioning the price and calling on the company and the Department of Homeland Security to preserve records.

“In 2025, DHS reportedly purchased the Prairie Correctional Facility from CoreCivic, a major immigration detention contractor, for $495 million — shortly after Minnesota declined to purchase the same facility for $75 million,” the office of US Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat who is seeking to lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January, said on Friday.

Asked about the letters — dated November 11 and made public on Friday —  CoreCivic pointed to DHS and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying, “The federal government ultimately determined the sale price following its assessment process.”

Representatives for DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Shares of US prison operators initially fell after the Democratic sweep in US midterm elections across the country, including conservative states such as Kansas, in a major political shift seen as a backlash to Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. 

CoreCivic’s shares, which are up about 64% so far this year, were down 3.2% on Friday afternoon in New York. 

Brentwood, Tennessee-based CoreCivic, one of the largest US prison operators, with 69 correctional and re-entry facilities nationwide, and its rival, GEO Group, both released their third-quarter results in the days following the US midterm elections. 

CoreCivic’s revenue rose 28% year over year, beating analysts’ expectations, as it saw increased demand from ICE and the sale of four detention facilities to the federal government for a total consideration of $2.21 billion.

The Appleton, Minnesota, facility cited by Hassan holds up to 1,600 detainees. The company announced the completion of the sale in August 2026.

CoreCivic President and CEO Lucibeth Mayberry told investors that ICE had begun to increase its enforcement activity and already had funding to continue to do so. Regarding the purchase of new detention centers, she said: “We would urge the ICE administration to move quickly.”

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)