WASHINGTON – The White House plans to announce Tuesday that a rural Illinois prison will be acquired by the federal government to become the new home for a limited number of Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Gov. Pat Quinn will make the official announcement on Tuesday at the White House.
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Officials at both the White House and in Durbin's office confirmed the news Tuesday night.
They said President Barack Obama has directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. A spokesman for Durbin's office said the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees.
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