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Colorado gov also wants state to host Guantanamo detainees
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Posted on Jan 28 2009
The CNMI may have some competition from other places in United States hoping to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is also supporting the idea of transferring terror suspects to Florence, Colorado’s federal Supermax prison.
On Tuesday, Rep. Ray Yumul said that in light of President Obama’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within the year, he wants the U.S. government to build a similar center in the CNMI, saying it could help the local economy.
“This is a good opportunity to not just provide for the services of national security, and for the protection of Americans to include the Commonwealth, but also to bring in fresh resources and income for our weakening economy,” Yumul said.
“If the U.S. is having a hard time trying to find hosting nations to take some of these detainees, we’re willing to do that here,” he said.
“Economically, it’s a very good opportunity because facilities will be built,” he said, adding that the Commonwealth would see a multiplier effect because of the military and federal officials needed to administer such a facility. Locals could also be employed to work in the center, he said.
The Associated Press has reported a senior administration official as saying that Colorado’s Supermax prison is being considered as a new home for some detainees.
A spokesman for Ritter said the Supermax prison was built to handle inmates like those from Guantanamo, according to the Denver Post.
Some countries within the European Union have said they would be willing to take Gitmo prisoners—but only after detailed screenings took place.
Yumul said security should not be a concern for the CNMI because federal officials are capable of protecting the safety of the public.
“Some questions were brought up about the caliber of these detainees, and that it might subject us to increased threat, but I don’t see that because the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is doing their job,” Yumul said.
The Commonwealth, Yumul noted, has experience with housing detainees. In 1999, the U.S. government asked the CNMI host hundreds of undocumented Chinese nationals on Tinian, after they were intercepted on their way to Guam.
