The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has fired senior leaders of its tribally owned business for accepting a nearly $30 million deal to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Prairie Band LLC, the tribe’s company, had landed a contract to assist in the design of detention centers for ICE.
The Kansas-based tribe announced the leadership changes Tuesday evening, just hours after the company’s president defended the decision to take the contract.
The tribe said the project does not align with its values.
“As a sovereign Nation, our values guide the decision we make,” the tribe said in the Facebook announcement, “and we acknowledge that this contract does not align with those principles.”
The tribe said it will reevaluate its internal review and approval process for taking on federal contracts. It also plans for all future agreements to “align clearly with our values and mission.”
However, it’s unclear the tribe will cancel the project. The announcement did not mention plans to nix the deal and officials for the tribe did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“We recognize the weight this news carries for so many, as well as the feelings of anger, confusion and disappointment it caused,” the tribe said in the Facebook statement.
Jacob Wamego, Prairie Band LLC president, initially defended the contract, noting the company’s work mostly comes from federal contracts.
He told the Topeka Capital-Journal that the company would help with facility designs, but that he did not know where the facilities would be located.
The contract comes amid President Donald Trump’s campaign to remove people in the U.S. without full legal status. That effort has been hampered by a lack of detention space for tens of thousands of people facing possible deportation.
The federal government currently lists two immigration detention centers in Kansas — the Chase County Jail and the federal prison in Leavenworth.
Private prison company CoreCivic is attempting to reopen its facility in Leavenworth to house immigration detainees. But those plans have been delayed because of a legal dispute between the company and Leavenworth city leaders.
Dylan Lysen reports on social services and criminal justice for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at dlysen (at) kcur (dot) org.
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