Former officers, Leavenworth representatives continue push against ICE Detention Center

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (KCTV) - For months, CoreCivic and the city of Leavenworth have gone back and forth on whether the old Leavenworth Detention Center can be reopened as an ICE Detention Center. While a definite answer has yet to take form, former CoreCivic officers and city leaders continue to oppose the idea.

On Monday, a group in opposition gathered at Ray Miller Park and ed the lawsuit filed by the City of Leavenworth.

According to the lawsuit, Leavenworth is asking a judge to block the private prison operator’s attempt to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center without City approval.

Citing its responsibility “to protect the health, safety, and economic development” of its constituents, the City reinforced its belief that CoreCivic must obtain a special use permit to open — or reopen, as CoreCivic argues — the facility at 100 Highway Terrace.

The City opened its complaint with a testimonial describing the detention center as an “absolute hell hole.” It stated that during CoreCivic’s 30 years of operation, there were “multiple widely publicized scandals resulting from its gross mismanagement of the Facility,” which burdened the City in “countless ways.”

The suit further alleged that “in CoreCivic’s own words,” the Leavenworth facility is inactive and therefore must apply for the permit.

During Thursday’s gathering, former CoreCivic officer William Rogers said the special use permit is no longer valid.

“[The facility] was not being used for its original intent for over 24 months,” Rogers said. “They did not have any inmates since the end of 2021, so I don’t understand what their game is here.”

When KCTV5 first spoke with Rogers in February 2025, he said he was assaulted seven times in the four and a half years he worked there, “three of which required emergency room visits.” He said he’s not against the concept of reopening MRRC, he’s against the possibility that the former conditions could return.

“If we need to detain people in these kinds of facilities, I’m not going to argue that law with you,” he told KCTV5. “What I am going to argue is that while they’re there, we have to treat them humanely.”

Despite the pushback, CoreCivic filed for a special use permit with the City on Feb. 21, 2025. Less than a month later, however, the company withdrew it, asserting that they “do not believe the SUP is necessary.”

CoreCivic has released several statements and most recently reiterated that a new special permit is not necessary. Below is the most recent statement sent to KCTV5 on April 17, 2025.

A court will now decide if CoreCivic has to apply for a special use permit.

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