Transcript of Midwest Mobilization: Inside Nebraska’s Immigration Enforcement Plan

While several Blue State governors continue to work over time to thwart the Trump administration's immigration clamped down, many of their Red State counterparts are working hand in glove with ice to get criminal illegals off the streets and out of the country. Among those Red States is Nebraska, which is partnering with federal authorities and building out a detention center dubbed the Cornhusker Clink.

In this episode, we sit down with the governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillen, to discuss how his state is working alongside the federal government to get immigration under control. I'm Daily Wire executive editor, John Bickley with Georgia How. It's Sunday, September seventh, and this is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

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Joining us now to discuss how he's handling immigration in his state as Nebraska governor, Jim Pillen. First of all, governor, thank you so much for coming on.

Hey, John. Great to be on. Appreciate the opportunity and look forward to our visit.

So you have been doing a lot of work with the Trump administration on immigration And I wanted to ask you about that. How has that process been and what are you guys doing?

The process really started for me a long time ago and became fortified as the governor of Nebraska. When we supported Governor Abbott during the Biden administration in '23 and '24 with security on the border, we sent troops down. I was down several times and was briefed by Governor Abbott and his team and just what was going on. And one time I went early because I wanted to meet with locals at Eagle Pass, and it was really, really heart-wrenching to see what was taking place. And then one helicopter ride, one of the pilots, as I was asking questions, said, Jim, just look across the river, look into the community, and look how the cartels have destroyed this community. And we had our state patrol, which has a really, really special drone program. And we were able to get pictures to help support and just see how the cartels were packing kids like meals with the synthetic methametamines that come from China, the fentanyl, and then not to mention the sex trafficking. So there was just an abundance of criminals and terrorists come across US, focused on a lot of bad stuff. So for me, really, really simple.

The highest calling your government is safety. I'm not a politician. I want government out of my hair. Government's got to keep us safe. That's where we're at. We're supporting the President. We're so incredibly grateful for getting the border secured. I am incredibly grateful that he's designated the cartels as terrorists. They are, in my opinion, are one of the greatest impediments of our society and the harm that they're causing our country and our youth. I'm about our kids, and so really big. So our focus is we're involved in helping with ICE to be able to keep our community safe. We've had an influx of people in the last four years doing extraordinary harm. We have to get them out. That's why we're working really, really hard on ICE. We've been able to come together and have a facility. To support it, and we're really, really proud of that work.

Yeah, I wanted to have you speak to that facility a little bit. There's been a lot of focus on Alligator Alcatraz in Florida. Now there's the Corn Husker Clink. What exactly is that?

Yeah. Well, it's a piece of our Department of Corrections. So we have a facility in Southwest Nebraska. It's about three hours east of Denver. It's a facility that's been in operation about 35 years. It is an accredited, certified National Department of Corrections facility. We have 84 people that do great work there. So that's a facility that we are in the midst of relocating. We had 186 people there, relocating them within other departments. So this facility now will be 100 % operational. We'll be ready, September 15th, really quick to be able to take the criminals that are detained and hold them while they go through the court system to get before a judge, and then deport them from there. We have an airport close by. It will serve maybe a six-region area, if you think about six state area, if you think about Colorado, the Dakotas, Kansas, Iowa. And us, Nebraska, can't believe it. But the reality is we've got a bunch of bad people around that we need to get them out.

Do you expect legal pushback from left wing activists like we've seen with the Florida facility? Oh, yeah, of course.

Beautiful thing is we live in the greatest country in the face of the Earth. Everybody can have their say in their opinion. Everything is totally all the bases are covered. When ACLU or whoever is going to sue us, I will win. We stand accord the day. And Nebraska is conservative. Eighty % of Nebraska's are really, really grateful. I was just out at the State Fair and nonstop meeting Nebraska at the State Fair. Thank you, government, for all you do. Thank you. Thank you for fighting proper tax. Thank you for the McCook facility keeping us safe. We're grateful. 8 out of 10 Nebraska's 100 % supportive.

It's amazing level of support there. We know your state patrol has taken advantage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 287(g) program. What is that exactly And how is it being utilized in Nebraska?

Yeah. So we were able to just get that going. We had change in our colonel of the state patrol, so we weren't able to move quite as quickly as I wanted. But that's taking place along with our National Guard at doing the administrative function. So we have some state patrol folks being trained right now, and then they will be supportive of ICE, which means that they can do the same functions of arresting on ICE. We do a lot of work. A lot of people aren't aware of it, but we do a lot of work with technology and IDs on Interstate 80 and other highways of license plates. And so we're able to find there. Interstate 80 goes east-west, 500 miles across the great state of Nebraska. Unfortunately, there's a lot of bad people moving drugs. We're arresting, and that'll be another piece that will support that. The other that we're really proud of is General Strong and the National Guard. I just met with 20 troops who volunteered to be a part of the administrative support for ICE. And again, as I told them, it's really, really important. We understand the mission. The mission is to keep us safe.

Our mission is not involved when we have people that have been living in Nebraska for 20 and 30 years working. The federal government has got to do their job to figure out the immigration. Our job is to keep us safe. We're not a part of the deportation thought process.

Pretty complicated issue is the issue of having the immigrants that did come in, a lot of them under Biden, working for employers in the state. We've seen some roundups, some arrests related to that, particularly with farmers. This is difficult. How do you handle that in the state? What's your message to employers in the state?

Yeah, my message is simple. We are working very, very hard for the highest calling of government, keep us safe. The reality is that I think it's really important for everybody. All of the farmers and the cattle feeders and the folks that I know, they have... Immigration has been an issue for 40 years. We have 330,000 Latino immigrants in the state of Nebraska. Many have everything perfect. Some are undocumented. They've been working for our community in our communities for 10 and 20, and 30 years. So we're not talking about them. We're talking about the people that came across in the Biden era, and those weren't immigrants. I mean, I met a family in Eagle Pass who said, Jim, here's what happened to us. We have a little ranch north of town. It got broken into and we were gone. We had a steer. They killed a steer, and they took it into our home and butchered it on the bed. Wow. That's not immigrants. That's criminals and terrorists. That's who I want the heck out of our communities. All Nebraska agree, all conservative Americans agree. It's a no-brainer, and we're really, really proud of all the work people are doing.

We We started off talking about you working with Texas, providing some National Guard help during that battle, that showdown with the Biden administration. How is immigration a larger issue? How do the states have to cooperate? And where have you seen maybe tension points there and also places where states have really worked together to improve the situation for all the citizens of those states?

Yeah. Well, there's a ton of states that have worked together to support Governor Abbott. All conservative states, right? I mean, we work hard. Highest calling, keep us safe, make sure that we support Blue. We do everything we can. The good news in Nebraska, we have great people. It's all about the people. But there's a few bad actors, and we have to hold them accountable. And I think that that's pretty well the same mindset of every other state, especially led by conservative governors. So we work together, we collaborate. But I think what's most important is that when we talk about the immigration issue, I've said it for 40 years, look, the politicians in Washington, DC, have to quit playing Hoover politics and quit worrying about themselves, Republicans and Democrats come together and solve this problem. The federal bureaucracy is so incapable. We have to address it so that people can have a solution to it. My viewpoint is really simple. There is no way if somebody has come here indocumented that they have the privilege to vote, that they have the privilege to run for elected office or have the privilege to have any benefits from government.

But we need to come together because every industry, everything in agriculture, President Trump's industry, he understands. Because if we've got to clean the sheets, we've got a roof, we've got construction, hard jobs are immigrant-filled. It's time our federal government, that Congress gets it fixed and gets it solved. That's not things we in the state can do. We can support, but that's a federal issue that has to get solved.

Well, we've seen under Trump, what happens when you have a White House determined to crack down on the border. The number of crossings have almost completely dried up. It's actually really remarkable. So we can see some action there, at least from the executive branch. We'll see if Congress can agree on enough to take some additional action. Now, as for college football.

Awesome.

How is Nebraska shaping up? I want to hear your perspective. And listen, I know you're a homer, but give us the real deal. Is Nebraska going to be improved this year? We saw some steps taken last year. What do you think?

So I had the privilege to play for a legendary coach, Tom Osborne, along a long time ago, and I've said it over and over again. We lost an extraordinary amount of discipline and toughness year after year from the time Coach Osborne, I retired. What I'm so excited about is our coach, Matt Rule. Matt Rule is an incredible human who is a phenomenal leader who happens to be a football coach. Tom Osborne transformed my life. I'm seeing Matt Rule do the same thing with his kids, and he's a tough guy. He's about physical football. He's about extraordinary discipline and toughness, and he's given the Huskers the gift of belief, this is not drinking the Kool-Aid, this is getting to see it and understand it. I'm really, really excited. We're really proud of Coach Rule. He's got great people and a great organization. Troy Denon, our AD, is doing it. They're great partners, and we're really excited for the season. Everybody in college football says it right, Nebraska has to be great again, and it's time to happen.

As a Florida State fan, I used to love. We had a rivalry way back when we did just steal one of your coaches. I feel bad about that. I'm apologizing here formally. Any major games in the early stages of the schedule we should keep an eye out for with Nebraska?

Well, yeah, I think that September 20th is a really, really big day in Lincoln, providing early part of the season goes as we plan. We've got a game with Michigan. We owe Michigan back. And Michigan has got a linebacker by the name of Ernest Hausman, who was adopted from Africa, and he grew up in our church. So I've known Ernest since he was a little guy. Haven't seen him for a few years. Wish him well, but I'm hoping we block him well when we play Michigan. But that'll be a big game. That will be a good test to give us the confidence to go the rest of the year.

So much fun. College football has changed very dramatic in the last few years. A lot of people complaining about it. I actually like it. I think it's fascinating. If nothing else, the college football industry is a fascinating, complicated, ever-changing thing now, and there's lots to watch for. Thank you so much for talking with us. Yeah.

Hey, thank you, John. Let's enjoy the college football season because it special stuff.

That was Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, and this has been a Weekend Edition of MorningWire.