Gitmo detainees moving near Wisconsin

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Dozens of terrorist suspects will be moved to an Illinois prison about 60 miles south of the Wisconsin border on the Mississippi River.

President Obama has ordered the federal government to acquire the underused Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., which the state built in 2001 to house maximum security inmates.

The President’s decision is part of his promise to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin will join White House officials in an announcement today, but the White House and Durbin’s office have already confirmed the move.

One of several prisons the government considered, Durbin said Thomson would house federal inmates and a limit of 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

Illinois Senator Roland Burris says the transfer will be a great economic benefit to his state by creating more than 3,000 well-paying jobs plus attracting new federal dollars.

Budget problems kept the state from fully opening the Thomson prison. It now houses around 200 minimum-security prisoners.

Not all Illinois officials supported the Thomson transfer. Congressional Republican Mark Kirk says it might make the region a bigger target for terrorist attacks.

Tags: news, wisconsin, guantanamo, detainees, thomson, illinois, prison