A new federal immigration detention facility opened Monday in western Minnesota, giving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement additional capacity for arrests, detention and removals. The opening [1] follows a $495.6 million purchase by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in August.
The privately owned prison, now called the Appleton Detention Facility, contains 1,600 beds and had been vacant for 16 years. It was previously known as the Prairie Correctional Facility.
The property had been offered to the state of Minnesota for $75 million in 2025, according to documents obtained by local media. The Minnesota Department of Corrections declined that offer, and federal taxpayers paid $420 million more for the property just one year later.
The facility began housing ICE detainees this week and is expected to become fully operational by the middle of 2027. Its opening gives federal immigration authorities immediate detention capacity without waiting for construction of a new facility.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to The Center Square’s request for an explanation of the price difference. Instead, the department defended the acquisition by emphasizing the facility’s planned role in immigration enforcement.
“DHS opened the Appleton Detention Facility on November 9 to strengthen America’s ability to enforce its immigration laws and carry out the American people’s mandate for mass deportations,” a DHS spokesperson told The Center Square in a statement on Wednesday.
“The site gives ICE immediate capacity to detain and remove those who have no legal right to remain, protecting American communities and restoring the integrity of our borders without waiting years for new construction.”
CoreCivic, one of the nation’s largest private prison operators, defended the transaction in a press release and called the purchase price a “fair market value.” The company said federal real estate acquisitions are governed by an appraisal process intended to determine objective market value.
“The federal government’s purchase price for the Prairie Correctional Facility (Appleton Detention Facility) should be understood in the context of the appraisal process that governs federal real property acquisitions, which is designed to determine objective fair market value,” CoreCivic said.
According to CoreCivic, independent appraisers hired by the federal government used a cost based methodology. That process considered replacement costs, depreciation, land value and other market factors.
The appraisal also accounted for significant renovations at the facility, CoreCivic said. The government then reviewed the appraisal for compliance with federal standards before completing the purchase.
CoreCivic directly addressed the vast gap between the $75 million state offer and the federal government’s $495.6 million purchase. The company said those figures measured “two different things at vastly different points in a valuation process.”
The Appleton Detention Facility is located about three hours west of the Twin Cities in a town with roughly 1,400 residents. The Twin Cities experienced widespread protests earlier this year during the federal immigration operation known as Metro Surge.
The facility is expected to create more than 500 jobs in the area. At the same time, some local residents have voiced concerns about ICE’s presence and the loss of property tax revenue for the city and county.
Federal properties are exempt from local property taxes, meaning local governments will not collect that revenue from the detention facility. The anticipated jobs therefore arrive alongside a fiscal tradeoff for the surrounding community.
DHS maintained that the new facility will provide a useful resource for immigration operations across the country. The department tied those operations directly to President Trump’s immigration enforcement mission.
“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe,” its spokesperson told The Center Square. “It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and ensuring we have resources to carry out President Trump’s mission.”