DOD examined DOD, state and federal prison facilities in SC, Kansas and Colorado to provide cost estimates on incarcerating the remaining detainees.
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The plan represents a last-gasp effort by the Obama administration to convince Congress that detainees who can’t be transferred safely to other countries should be housed in a U.S.-based prison.
“We do expect it [to be submitted] soon”, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said Monday.
USA officials, requesting anonymity, said it was expected this week. Conservative senators from the states that are being considered for transfers are concerned that the arrival of detainees would present a threat to their communities and have promised to fight such a plan in Congress, according to Agence France-Presse. He has threatened that if Congress doesn’t approve a transfer plan of the most risky prisoners he could move them using his powers of Executive Action. If closed, those cleared for release would be transferred to other countries, while those are slated for indefinite detention would be sent to secure federal and military prisons in the U.S.
The report says the Centennial South Correctional (Colorado State Penitentiary II) facility in Cañon City, which was toured in October, has advantages that could outweigh the disadvantages there, according to officials, but no details were available and no conclusions have been reached.
In making the demand, the letter states in part “If the detainees are transferred there, the dire consequences of this move will be felt by Leavenworth and the surrounding communities long after the end of the current administration”.
The expected plan also is likely to identify what legislative changes would be necessary to trans-fer the prisoners, Davis said. Republicans control the House of Representatives and Sen-ate and oppose the closure.
The only way the president can close the detainee center is to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, an option he has had in the past and has not acted on. The Senate is expected to pass the same measure as soon as Tuesday.
The “focus of our efforts right now is on Congress”, he said.
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White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested on Wednesday in the daily briefing that Obama might try to circumvent the Congress if the Congress refuses to give the Pentagon plan the green light.
