Administration Eyes Uninhabited Island For Future Immigration Detention Site

Menuhaeo administration sees Gerber Island as detention site

MAVOCKE--A small island off the coast of Damoign may be a viable location for an immigration detention center, according to National Security Secretary Michelle Gates.

Gerber Island, a Grassadellian territory about 130 miles northwest of Harvannah and about 210 miles off the mainland coast, is being seen as a prospective location for an immigration detention facility. If built, the facility would temporarily house "dangerous persons seeking to enter the country," many of whom are on the federal government's "no-fly" list, until they are deported back to their home countries.

Gates told the NPF Tuesday the island would house only people who are "extremely dangerous," and are actively trying to "smuggle their way into the country."

"The people that will be housed at this facility, if it is built, are people that are extremely dangerous and threaten the security and safety of our country," Gates said. "These are individuals who have known terrorist connections, or who have a history of violent or widespread crime in Grassadellia and surrounding allied nations."

The island is currently uninhabitated, although government activity has been ongoing on the island for decades.

The federal government has been seeking to construct an immigration detention center for years, but has lacked a location and at times, support in Congress.

If the facility is given the go-ahead by Congress and President Brenton Menuhaeo, it would house approximately 50 to 100 detainees, with the possibility of adding on to the facility if conditions merit additional room.

"Gerber Island is a suitable location geologically, because it is a stable island and sits on solid ground as opposed to wetlands or marsh," Environmental Affairs Secretary Steven McIntosh told the NPF.

Gates said the island is ideal because located within Grassadellian waters, and is large enough to house the facility, staff housing, and a water port and air strip.

But critics warn the island could become the next Guantanamo Bay, and could be used by the government as a prison used for illegal detention of immigrants and other persons.

Sen. Dick Ammons (C-HVN) told the GBC he is skeptical the island will be used simply as a detention site for legitimate persons of reasonable suspicion.

"What I'm concerned about is possible abuses of this system," Ammons said. "This could really be an open door to corruption and abuse of prisoners and illegal detentions."

Sen. Victoria Albright (C-CEA), who chairs the Senate National Security Committee, said she cautiously supports the proposal, but wants to have further inquiries done before bringing it up for a vote in the committee.

"I, personally, support the construction of a site, because we need something to deal with these sorts of people who are seeking entry into the country," Albright told GNN. "But we need to have more hearings, more expert testimony, and we need some form of strict oversight that will help keep the light shined on this program."

The Grassadellian Human Rights Council (GHRC) has already protested the proposal, and says it will mobilize its supporters to oppose the project as well.

"This will rapidly turn into an outright abuse and denial of basic human rights," said Martha Ann Calloway, president of the GHRC. "The notion that the Grassadellian government will build something that is basically equivalent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is outrageous."

Sen. Grace Kemp (N-TRI), who is up for re-election this year, is adamantly opposed to the project.

"Are we really going to let our government detain people and hold them in a prison cell just like George Bush did with Guantanamo? If our government does this, we are going to lose all respect in the international community," Kemp said in a recent appearance on GNN's Talking Points cable program.

Immigration groups are split on the issue. The Beacon Foundation, which supports less restricted immigration, has condemned the idea of a detention site, calling the project "offensive even in the proposal stages."

But the National Center for Responsible Immigration Policies (NCRIP), a group that advocates more restricted immigration, has called the idea "good," but cautions more information is needed before a decision can be reached.

"We feel very strongly that our country needs a facility where dangerous immigrants that threaten national security can reside temporarily," says Beth Iandman, a spokeswoman for NCRIP. "But there are a lot of things that need to be ironed out before this project gets our OK."

Public Lands Secretary Tom Etheridge and Attorney General John Huuvanna are working jointly with Secretaries Gates and McIntosh on the proposal. It's unclear, as of now, who any co-sponsors in the bodies may be.

Rep. Clay Aioki (C-DES), who chairs the National Assembly's Immigration and Entry Committee, says his committee will hold hearings on the matter in the next two weeks.