By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
Chicago – Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are trying to build support for a proposal to sell a prison in rural northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Federal officials are expected to visit the maximum security Thomson Correctional Center today. The prison is about 150 miles west of Chicago.
Both Quinn and Durbin say the possibility of selling the prison to the federal government is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help create about 3,000 jobs.
But critics, including Republican members of Congress from Illinois, and GOP candidates for governor have been quick to condemn the prospect of the sale because of safety concerns.