Michigan Residents Voice Opposition to Gitmo Plan at Town Hall

Published December 24, 2015

Opponents of a possible plan to transfer Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects to Michigan voiced their concerns Thursday at a town hall in Standish.

"If we put them in Iowa, they would stick out if they got loose," one audience member said. "But if we put them in Michigan ... they can disappear into a community where we'll never find them."

Standish is only two hours from the largest Arab community outside of the Middle East.

The Obama administration is considering sending the 229 detainees to the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility, which is scheduled to close this year because of state budget cuts.

A group of federal officials inspected the prison last week, but the White House says no decision has been made.

Some residents of the Arenac County town say they'd accept the detainees if necessary to save the prison, which provides about 300 jobs and is the area's top employer. But others fear it would make the community a target for terrorist attacks.

Opponents organized Thursday's town hall, which was held at a local church.

Among those invited were Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, members of Congress and Debra Burlingame, the sister of a pilot of one of the planes hijacked during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"What you do here, make no mistake, they're watching in Washington. And if we can kill it here, maybe we can kill it everywhere and keep Guantanamo open," Burlingame said to applause.

Restaurant owner David Munson, who organized the meeting, told FOXNews.com earlier this week that he was influenced by the town halls on health care being held this month across the country. Many of the lawmakers who support the Democratic plan to overhaul the system have been shouted down at their events at targeted by protesters.

"We don't want the Guantanamo people there," Munson told FOXNews.com. "And we felt like the situation was moving way too quickly to bring the Guantanamo people here."

FOX News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michigan-residents-voice-opposition-to-gitmo-plan-at-town-hall