Alejandra rarely leaves her home these days. She skips church and doctor’s appointments to avoid being noticed. Her 13-year-old son has memorized his Social Security number and keeps a list of emergency contacts in case immigration officials detain her.
“I cannot be separated from my kids,” said the 30-year-old undocumented mother of four U.S.-born children. CNN is using only her first name for safety reasons.
That fear became real after a nationwide immigration crackdown under former President Donald Trump reached her quiet Nebraska community. In June, ICE agents raided an Omaha meatpacking plant in what they called the state’s largest worksite operation since Trump took office. Dozens were detained, including Alejandra’s friends and church members.
Now, a new ICE detention center dubbed the “Cornhusker Clink” is opening in western Nebraska. Expected to hold up to 300 adults, it joins similar facilities in Republican-led states like Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” and Indiana’s “Speedway Slammer.”
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen said the center will bring $14 million annually to the state, describing it as a partnership with federal officials to “protect Americans from criminal illegal aliens.” But critics argue it symbolizes Nebraska’s hard turn on immigration.
Nebraska’s Immigrant Workforce Under Pressure
Despite not being known as an immigrant haven, Nebraska’s economy relies heavily on Latino workers, many of whom are undocumented. In towns like Schuyler and Lexington—known locally as “Latino Pueblos”—immigrants have powered the meatpacking industry for decades.
“They’re afraid to go to work, afraid to be seen in public,” said John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union. He noted that many plants are struggling to stay staffed.
Immigrants make up about 53% of Nebraska’s meatpacking workforce, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Yet Trump’s renewed deportation efforts have sparked fear among workers, some of whom regret voting for him.
Economists say immigrants fill vital labor gaps—Nebraska currently has just 70 available workers for every 100 open jobs—contradicting claims that they “take” American jobs.
From Prison to Immigration Detention
The “Cornhusker Clink” will occupy a former minimum-security prison in McCook, Nebraska. The facility, once focused on rehabilitation and work programs, will now house people awaiting deportation.
Civil rights advocates, including Mindy Chipman of the ACLU of Nebraska, say the conversion removes reentry services for Nebraskans and detains mostly non-criminal immigrants. They also worry about its remote location, which makes it hard for families and attorneys to visit detainees.
“This isn’t about safety—it’s about politics,” Chipman said, noting the facility is part of Trump’s $45 billion “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which funds new ICE beds nationwide.
Families Living in Fear
Alejandra says Nebraska once felt like a welcoming place where her immigrant family could thrive. Her parents, also undocumented, own a home and pay taxes. But fear now dominates their lives. They plan to self-deport to Mexico within six months to avoid detention.
“They don’t want to live in fear,” Alejandra said.
She has started preparing her children for the worst. Her 13-year-old son even volunteers to shop alone so she can stay hidden in the car.
“‘Mom, you stay in the car,’ he told me. ‘If anything happens, you go.’”
As Nebraska aligns more closely with Trump’s anti-immigration policies, Alejandra wonders how long she can stay in the state she’s called home all her life. Like her parents, she may soon have to leave Nebraska behind for safety and peace.
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