Texas Prison Bid'ness

Via a reader, and confirmed by an article in the San Marcos Record, Caldwell County voted on January 16 to officially reject a private immigrant detention center proposed by Louisiana-based Emerald Corrections. As we've reported, the facility was the topic of a heated town meeting where 150 opponents asked an Emerald prison developer tough questions about the facility and held an informal vote against the prison. From the Record article:

(Commissioner Joe) Roland said initially, the proposal “seemed like an opportunity” that could bring much-needed jobs. He said there was also “a lot of misunderstanding” surrounding the proposal and that the people housed at the facility would not have been hardened criminals, just people who broke the law on a misguided path to a better life.

He said the community meeting was “something I did on my own to find out, to get the pulse of the community.

Public opposition would have been only the first hurdle for the project; commissioners would also have had to figure out how to supply the facility with the estimated 80,000 gallons of water it would need every day.

Our previous coverage of the Caldwell County detention center fight:

• Caldwell County Residents Defeat Emerald Proposal

• Caldwell County Commissioner Pitches Emerald Detention Center
  

• Emerald Proposes Caldwell County Detention Center