Democratic US senator probes CoreCivic sale of ICE facility in Minnesota

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A top US Democratic senator is investigating the Trump administration's purchase of a Minnesota immigration detention facility from CoreCivic CXW.N, raising questions over the price and calling on the company and the Department of Homeland Security to preserve their records.

"In 2025, DHS reportedly purchased the Prairie Correctional Facility from CoreCivic, a major immigration detention contractor, for $495 million — shortly after Minnesota declined to purchase the same facility for $75 million," the office of Maggie Hassan, who is seeking to lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January, said on Friday.

Representatives from CoreCivic and DHS could not be immediately reached for comment on the letters, dated November 11 and made public on Friday.

Shares of US prison operators initially fell after the Democratic sweep in US midterm elections across the country, including conservative states such as Kansas and others, in a major political shift seen as a backlash to Republican President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

CoreCivic's shares, which are up about 64% so far this year, were down about 2.5% in New York trading midmorning on Friday.

Brentwood, Tennessee-based CoreCivic, one of the largest US prison operators with 69 correctional and reentry facilities nationwide, and its rival the GEO Group GEO.N both released their third-quarter results in the days following the midterm congressional contests.

CoreCivic's revenue rose 28% year-over-year, beating analysts' expectations, as it saw increased demand from DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the sale of four detention facilities to the federal government for a total consideration of $2.21 billion.

The Appleton, Minnesota, facility cited by Hassan holds up to 1,600 detainees.

Its president, Lucibeth Mayberry, told investors that ICE had begun to increase its enforcement activity and already had funding to continue to do so. Regarding the purchase of new detention centers, she said: "We would urge the ICE administration to move quickly."