Firm to Build, Run Prison in Mendota
A private prison operator will build a $50-million federal detention facility for illegal immigrants, creating 400 new jobs in this small San Joaquin Valley town, a city official said Monday.
Corrections Corp. of America is a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that has built state and federal prisons across the United States, Mayor Robert Silva said.
“It’s great. It’s something we’ve been working for quite a while,” Silva said. “It’s something that will give a boost to the community and the local economy, which has a 40% unemployment rate during winter months.”
Construction will begin as soon as an environmental impact report is finished and annexation of the 100-acre lot west of the city limits is completed, Silva said.
The 1,000-bed, minimum-security facility will be used to process illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, he said.
Mendota, which has 8,000 residents, is about 130 miles southeast of San Francisco.
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