The plan, which was floated as a possibility in late fall, has already drawn criticism from Iowa’s Republican delegation in Congress. Democratic representatives for the state have taken a more measured approach, but also have not automatically signaled their support.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. D-Ill., Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and federal officials who will take part in the announcement are expected to tout the potential economic impacts of locating a super-maximum-security federal prison in the small town of Thomson. A Colorado newspaper publisher from the area of the nation’s only existing supermax facility told The Iowa Independent that although economic benefit is possible, local residents shouldn’t expect an immediate influx of funds.

The state correctional  facility, which has been mostly idle since its recent construction, will need to be significantly renovated in order for it to function as a federal supermax correctional facility. The White House is expected to call on Congress to approve the funds necessary for renovation and management of the facility.

When asked if the detainees would put Iowa residents in danger, Grassley indicated that people in Virginia, when faced with a similar situation, expressed safety concerns.

“From what I’ve heard from people around Virginia… that when there was some talk six months ago about housing them in Virginia, and the people of Virginia were very, very scared,” Grassley said, noting that such fears were expressed by the congressmen representing the area.

Grassley also noted that when the facility near Thomson, Ill., which is being considered as a possible detention site, was originally built there were concerns from Iowans.

“I think there was some concern among Iowans in Clinton at that particular time about the prison across the [Mississippi] River, that — even before they were talking about housing terrorists — [caused] some concern about having it there,” he said. “But they didn’t have anything to say over it, but there was some, some of that fear expressed.”

After noting that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has never had an escape from a facility such as the one they are proposing near the state line, and that there had also been no issues with external threats, a reporter on the conference call questioned Grassley if such fears were reasonable.

“Well, you know, it’s not something I’m going to worry about, because I’m opposed to these people coming here in the first place,” Grassley said.

Although Grassley was not aware at the start of the conference call of any telephone calls into his office concerning use of the facility by federal authorities, staff members informed him that he had received 10 calls just today — all of them opposed to housing detainees at Thomson.

U.S. Rep. Tom Latham has indicated that he will introduce legislation Thursday to block any attempt to house Guantanamo detainees in the Midwest.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley has attended a private briefing and various meetings in Thomson and wants further input from Iowa residents potentially impacted before making up his mind.

The site, CanMyBossDoThat.com, is a project of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), a Chicago-based organization which calls upon religious values in order to educate, organize and mobilize the religious community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits and working conditions for workers.

Areas covered include safety at work, rules to attaining unemployment benefits, access to COBRA health insurance plans and legal rights during layoffs. The site has increased relevance after national job figures showed the unemployment rate jumped from 7.6 percent in January to 8.1 percent in February, the highest level since late 1983. More than 651,000 jobs were lost in February, the third month in a row that job losses topped 600,000.

Iowa’s unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent in December and is expected to be much higher when new figures are released this week.

(h/t Wendy Norris at the Colorado Independent)