DHS paid CoreCivic $495 million for a Minnesota prison the company had offered the state for $75 million, and the attorney general wants Congress to investigate
The federal price was almost seven times what the private prison operator had asked the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
The Department of Homeland Security paid $495 million for a Minnesota prison that the state had declined to buy for $75 million1,5.
CoreCivic, a private prison company, approached the Minnesota Department of Corrections last year offering to sell a long-shuttered detention facility1. Records show that CoreCivic offered to sell the private prison for $75 million last year, before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bought it4.
The facility is the Appleton site, for which ICE paid the private prison firm $495 million2,6. CoreCivic had offered it to the Minnesota Department of Corrections for almost seven times less than the Trump administration paid2.
Minnesota declined to buy the facility, which had been long shuttered when CoreCivic offered it to the state1. The federal purchase came later, at a price almost seven times higher2,5.
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Why it matters to investors
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has called on Congress to investigate the Department of Homeland Security over the purchase4. Ellison says that around a year and a half ago CoreCivic, the company that owned the prison, offered to sell it to the state of Minnesota for $75 million3.
Ellison made his call after records were obtained showing that CoreCivic had offered the prison for $75 million last year4. He has asked Congress, rather than state authorities, to examine the Department of Homeland Security’s purchase3,4.
The gap between the two prices, $75 million offered to the state and $495 million paid by the federal government, is the core of the dispute1,3. It places a single federal purchase from a private detention operator under public scrutiny2,4.
Political ties are part of the record. At the direction of then-CEO Patrick D. Swindle, CoreCivic made a $500,000 donation connected with President Donald Trump in 2025, according to one account6. Swindle is now the company’s former chief executive6.
What to watch
The first marker is whether Congress takes up Ellison’s call for an investigation of the purchase3,4.
A second is any explanation from the Department of Homeland Security or ICE of how the $495 million price was set, compared with the $75 million CoreCivic had asked of the state1,2.
A third is how the Appleton site is used now that it is in federal hands2,6.
A fourth is whether CoreCivic’s earlier offer to the state, made around a year and a half ago, becomes part of any congressional review3,4.
Sources
- Minnesota Declined to Buy a Prison for $75 Million. D.H.S. Paid $495 Million., nytimes.com (2026-10-30)
- ICE paid private prison firm $495M for Appleton site that had been offered to state for $75M, bringmethenews.com (2026-10-30)
- MN AG Keith Ellison says Congress should investigate Federal Government’s purchase of ... - KFGO, kfgo.com (2026-10-30)
- Minnesota AG Keith Ellison calls on Congress to investigate Dept. of Homeland Security ... - KARE 11, kare11.com (2026-10-30)
- DHS Buys Minnesota Prison for $495 Million After State Declines, demokratis.co.id (2026-10-31)
- ICE paid private prison firm $495M for Appleton site that had been offered to state for $75M, yahoo.com (2026-10-30)
Assembled by Edwin, my AI assistant powered by Claude, from the public excerpts of the outlets numbered above. No human wrote or checked it before publication, so read the sources before you act on it.
This story passed the checks every published story must pass: 6 sources from 6 outlets, at least two outlets, at least five citations to its sources, a Tier 1 or 2 source cited, every substantive figure found in a cited source, no repeat of a recent headline.