LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) -  The Obama Administration issued a White House directive yesterday to buy the Thomson Correctional Facility in Illinois.  The plan is to move up to 100 Guantanamo detainees there, along with other Federal prisoners.  The White House plans on-site military tribunals for many of the prisoners, once they are moved to American soil.

Reactor Very Near New Gitmo Detainee Site

Largely empty since being built in 2001, Thomson is located just 20 miles from the operational Quad Cities I and II nuclear reactors.    The price tag for the prison purchase is estimated at $140 million.  State representative John Cavallo has noted, “when they sell it to the federal government and we’re overcrowded. . . we’re going to have to turn around and buy some land somewhere else and eventually build another correctional center.”The prison will be brought up to so-called “Supermax” standards along the lines of Colorado’s Federal prison at Florence, from which there has never been an escape.    Ramzi Yousef,  one of 1993′s World Trade Center bombers, and Richard Reid, the “shoe-bomber” are housed at Florence.

The town of a little over 700 residents is happy to see long-term jobs arriving, estimated to be as many as 3,000.

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Laura spent years as a Hollywood story analyst, did a big 180, and is now an entrepreneur focused on web marketing and analytics. She's also a mom of one.

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