Wisconsin Congresswoman Visits Leavenworth ICE Facility, Questions Basis for Detentions

Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin’s 4th District said she visited an immigration detention facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, to check on people from her district who are being held there, then raised questions on social media about why they were detained.

“I just left the ICE detention facility in Leavenworth, Kansas to check on my constituents who are being detained,” Moore wrote. “While my constituents said they were being treated well, I can’t figure out why they’re here.”

Moore said the detainees she checked on were “asylum seekers and moms with no criminal records,” and argued they were “far from the ‘worst of the worst.'” She also asserted that the facility’s operator makes “$307,000 off each bed,” concluding that “profit is driving ICE, not any public safety concerns.”

Under federal immigration law, a criminal conviction is not required for ICE to detain someone who is in the country illegally; civil immigration violations alone can be grounds for detention. That enforcement authority predates the current administration and was used, including for deportations, during the Obama administration as well.

The Leavenworth facility is operated by CoreCivic, a private prison company that contracts with the federal government to house detainees. CoreCivic has said it expects roughly $60 million in annual revenue from the facility once it reaches its full capacity of about 1,033 beds — a figure that works out to well under $307,000 per bed, contradicting the per-bed number Moore cited.

Moore’s post drew criticism from conservative commentators and social media accounts, who argued that undocumented immigrants held in ICE custody are not “constituents” in the traditional political sense, since they cannot vote and are not part of the electorate Moore was elected to represent. Critics also accused Moore of misplacing her priorities, saying her attention should instead be on the needs of Milwaukee residents.

Moore has represented Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Milwaukee, since 2005.