Feds eye Mich. prison for Gitmo detainees

STANDISH, Mich., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Federal and state officials spent Thursday touring a Michigan maximum security prison as a possible home for terror detainees now held in Cuba, officials said.

Some 18 U.S. officials and 12 Michigan state officials inspected the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility to determine whether it could be suitable to suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which is scheduled to close next year, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Most of the officials left after the prison tour without offering comments to reporters, the newspaper said. They included representatives of the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense and Bureau of Prisons who reportedly looked at six housing cell blocks at Standish, as well as its administrative, cafeteria and hospital wings.

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan told the Free Press the visit was only an information-gathering session.

"We have no proposal from the feds to house detainees here," he said. "It was just a site visit tour."

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced in June plans to close eight state prisons to help deal with a $1.7 billion budget deficit. Corrections officials have offered to house prisoners from other states and officials from several states visited the Standish facility last month.

State and local lawmakers weighed in on those plans at a legislative subcommittee hearing in Lansing, the Detroit News reported. Many said they support bringing outside prisoners to the facility, whether from other states or Guantanamo.

"If the Standish Max is closed, the economic impact would be devastating," said state Rep. Tim Moore, whose district contains the prison. "Arenac County would be a ghost town."