A judge in Kansas issued a Wednesday ruling determining that a private prison operator could not use its shuttered facility to house detainees from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Leavenworth County Judge John Bryant granted a temporary restraining order blocking CoreCivic from housing individuals in the custody of ICE.
The order was issued after a March lawsuit was thrown out in May on technical grounds, according to the Associated Press.
CoreCivic did not immediately reply to The Hill’s request for comment on the ruling.
Earlier this year, executives applied to use their 1,033-bed facility to help the Trump administration facilitate removals in its crackdown on illegal immigration. CoreCivic said it would lose $4.2 million each month it wasn’t open, according to legal files reviewed by AP.
The company applied for a permit to use the grounds for ICE operations but withdrew its application in May alleging it didn’t need permission from the city to determine which detainees to house.
“It became clear to CoreCivic that there was not a cooperative relationship,” said Taylor Concannon Hausmann, an attorney for the private prison operator, speaking in court, as reported by the AP.
However, city attorney Joe Hatley urged the company to “follow the rules” and obtain the proper permit for operations.
The CoreCivic property is located 10 miles away from the Kansas City International Airport and has previously worked with federal officials to house pre-trial detainees, according to the AP.
In 2021, the Tennessee-based company stopped working for the U.S. Marshals Service after former President Biden urged the Justice Department to cease contracts with private prison operators. Multiple inmate violations were flagged in addition to reported suicides and killings.
The Trump administration has been working with the private sector to undertake deportation efforts, including the GEO Group, which is planning to reopen New Jersey’s Delaney Hall to hold individuals awaiting removal.
Democrats have protested the use of the facility for federal purposes citing concerns about federal operations within Newark, a designated sanctuary city.