RELEASE: "No Cruelty on the Taxpayer Dime": Tennessee Advocates Denounce Mason's Detention Center
RELEASE: "No Cruelty on the Taxpayer Dime": Tennessee Advocates Denounce Mason's Detention Center
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August 14, 2025
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"No Cruelty on the Taxpayer Dime": Tennessee Advocates Denounce Mason's Detention Center
CoreCivic Deal Shows Leaders Aren't Putting Tennesseans First While Essential Services Remain Underfunded
MEMPHIS— Tuesday night the Mayor and Board of Alderman of Mason, TN voted on whether or not to open a detention center owned and operated by Nashville-based CoreCivic, one of the nation's largest private prison corporations. 3 aldermen, including the city’s mayor, voted in favor, while 2 voted against, and 2 abstained.
While we are being told by the city's attorney that both the measure authorizing CoreCivic to open the detention center and the measure approving the use of the detention center by Immigration and Customs Enforcement passed, it appears the city charter requires a majority vote for a measure to pass and therefore the vote total requires a closer look.
Both measures have drawn sharp condemnation from human rights advocates who argue that they represent a dangerous pattern of Tennessee leaders prioritizing corporate profits and expanded detention over community wellbeing, all while essential services like healthcare, childcare, and public education remain chronically underfunded across the state.
Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said:
“Every Tennessean deserves to live in safety with the freedom to thrive. But yet again we see a desire from private prison companies to continue their expansion of the dangerous network of private prisons, a system that continuously puts profits over people and disproportionately targets communities of color for mass incarceration. Based on the fact that only 3 out of 7 votes from the aldermen favored the contract, it seems clear that putting an ICE detention center in Mason, Tennessee doesn’t actually have the support of the local community. This was also highlighted by the fact that so many locals came to the meeting to speak in opposition to approve this private prison right in their community.
“CoreCivic is another multi-billion dollar corporation that preys on rural communities, promising economic growth but ultimately only prioritizing helping their executives get richer. No cruelty is ever ok on the taxpayer dime. But what's even worse is that these harms are happening at the expense of fully funding healthcare, childcare and public schools across Tennessee.
“This is why we have to keep organizing our communities to speak up and demand policies that actually prioritize safe neighborhoods and communities, because when we all come together we can build a Tennessee where everyone can make a better life for their family, no matter the color of their skin, their immigration status, or what is in their wallet.”