Midwest Mobilization: Inside Nebraska’s Immigration Enforcement Plan

Summary

Podcast Summary: Midwest Mobilization: Inside Nebraska’s Immigration Enforcement Plan

Podcast: Morning Wire
Date: September 7, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley, Georgia Howe
Guest: Nebraska Governor Jim Pillin

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on Nebraska’s recently intensified immigration enforcement efforts, spearheaded by Governor Jim Pillin in partnership with federal authorities and ICE. The discussion dives into the creation of a dedicated detention center, Nebraska’s collaboration with other states, legal and social implications, and the nuances of balancing enforcement with consideration for long-time residents and the state’s workforce needs. The conversation closes with a lighter discussion about Nebraska college football.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nebraska’s Partnership with Federal Immigration Enforcement

• Governor Pillin’s Background and Motivation
  • Pillin recalls visiting Texas’ border areas and witnessing “heart-wrenching” cartel activity, including drug and human trafficking.
  • Emphasizes safety as the highest calling of government:

    “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.” (04:35 – Pillin)

2. The 'Cornhusker Clink': Nebraska’s New Detention Facility

• Nebraska has repurposed a Department of Corrections facility for use in detaining and processing individuals for deportation.
• The facility, near Denver, will serve a six-state region, ready for operation by September 15.
• “We have an airport close by. It’ll serve maybe a six region area...” (05:28 – Pillin)
• “We’re really, really proud of that work.” (04:49 – Pillin)

3. Anticipation of Legal Pushback

• Pillin addresses likely lawsuits from activists and ACLU but maintains confidence:

  “Everything is totally, all the bases are covered… When ACLU or whoever going to sue us, we'll win. We stand the cord the day.” (06:29 – Pillin)

• States overwhelming support among Nebraskans (about 80%):

  “Eight out of ten Nebraskans 100% supportive.” (06:53 – Pillin)

4. Nebraska’s Participation in the 287(g) Program

• Nebraska State Patrol is training to work directly with ICE, conducting immigration enforcement activities.
• Pillin points to Nebraska’s tech-driven approach:

  “We do a lot of work with technology and IDs on Interstate 80 and other highways…” (07:39 – Pillin)

• Distinguishes between recent criminal entrants and long-term, law-abiding immigrant residents:

  “Our mission is not involved when, when we have people that have been living in Nebraska for 20 and 30 years working. The federal government's got to do their job to figure out the immigration. Our job is to keep us safe.” (08:42 – Pillin)

5. The Economic and Social Context: Impact on Employers

• Pillin separates the plight of long-standing, community-integrated undocumented immigrants from recent criminal entrants:

  “We're not talking about them. We're talking about the people that came across in the Biden era and those weren’t immigrants… That’s criminals and terrorists. That’s who I want the heck out of our communities.” (09:45 – Pillin)

• Highlights the longstanding contributions of Latino immigrants:
  • “We have 330,000 Latino immigrants in the state of Nebraska. Many have everything perfect. Some are undocumented. They've been working for our communities for 10 and 20 and 30 years.” (09:30 – Pillin)

6. State and Federal Collaboration and Broader Immigration Reform

• Notes that Nebraska is among many conservative states helping Texas and collaborating broadly:

  “All conservative states. Right. I mean, we work hard, highest calling, keep us safe…” (11:05 – Pillin)

• Critiques D.C. gridlock on true reform:

  “The politicians in Washington D.C. have to quit playing Google politics and quit worrying about themselves. Republicans and Democrats come together and solve this problem.” (11:27 – Pillin)

• Reiterates limits of state power and necessity for federal action.

7. Notable Segment: Personal Story Illustrating the Problem

• Pillin shares a Texas rancher’s story to differentiate between criminal activity and productive immigration:

  “I met a family in Eagle Pass… We had a steer, they killed a steer and they took it into our home and butchered it on the bed… That’s not immigrants. That’s criminals and terrorists.” (09:41 – Pillin)

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Memorable Quotes

• “The highest calling of government is safety.” (04:35 – Jim Pillin)
• “We're really, really proud of all the work people are doing.” (10:18 – Jim Pillin)
• “My viewpoint is really simple. There is no way, if somebody’s come here undocumented, that they have the privilege to vote, that they have the privilege to run for elected office or the privilege to have any benefits from government. But we need to come together because… hard jobs are immigrant filled. It’s time our federal government… gets it fixed.” (12:23 – Jim Pillin)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:18 – Governor Jim Pillin joins to discuss immigration enforcement
• 04:35 – Pillin describes why he’s prioritized immigration (safety, cartel activity)
• 05:10 – Introduction to the Cornhusker Clink facility
• 06:25 – Discussion of expected legal challenges
• 07:21 – Nebraska’s role in 287(g) partnership with ICE
• 09:20 – Pillin’s message to employers about immigrant employees
• 11:02 – State collaboration and need for federal immigration reform
• 12:54 – The impact of Trump administration’s policies on border crossings
• 13:28 – Transition to Nebraska college football discussion

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Bonus: College Football Chat

• Governor Pillin, a former Nebraska player, expresses optimism about Coach Matt Rhule’s approach:

  “Matt Rhule is an incredible human who is a phenomenal leader who happens to be a football coach… He's about extraordinary discipline and toughness.” (13:37 – Pillin)

• Anticipates a key matchup with Michigan on September 20
• Ends on a note of sports camaraderie and excitement for the season

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Summary

Governor Jim Pillin lays out a comprehensive, tough-on-crime immigration agenda centered on Nebraska’s collaboration with federal authorities, commitment to public safety, and the launch of a regional detention center. The episode balances policy specifics with personal stories, addresses legal and social complexities, and underscores the importance of state-federal cooperation. Pillin champions Nebraska’s values and expresses pride in community support and the state’s resilience, concluding with a hopeful eye on the Huskers’ football season.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

In this episode, we sit down with the governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillin, 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 Howe. It's Sunday, September 7th, and this is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

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[B]

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

[D]

Hey John, great to Be on. Appreciate the opportunity and look forward to our visit.

[B]

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

[D]

The process really, 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 was going on. And one time I went down early because I wanted to. I wanted to meet with locals at Eagle Pass. And it was really, really heart wrenching to see what was taking place. And in one helicopter ride, one of the. One of the pilots, as I was asking questions, said, jim, just look, look across the river. Look into the community and look how the cartels have destroyed this community. And we had State, our State patrol, which has a really, really special drone program, and we were able to get pictures to help see how the cartels were packing kids like mules with the synthetic methamphetamines 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 focused on a lot of bad stuff. So for me, really, really simple. The highest calling of 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 communities 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.

[B]

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 cornhusker. Clink. What exactly is that?

[D]

Yeah, well, you know, 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, of relocating. We had 186 people there relocating them within other departments. So this facility now will be 100% operational. We'll be ready like September 15th really quick to be able to take the criminals that are detained, 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 it about state, six state area if you think about Colorado, the Dakotas, Kansas, Iowa and you know, us Nebraskans can't believe it but the reality is that we've got a bunch of bad people around that we, we need to get them out.

[B]

Do you expect legal pushback from sort of left wing activists like we've seen with the Florida facility?

[D]

Oh yeah, of course. You know, beautiful thing is we live in the greatest country in the face of the earth. Everybody can have their say in their opinion. You know everything is totally, all the bases are covered when ACLU or whoever going to sue us will win. We stand the cord the day. And you know Nebraska's conservative. 80% of Nebraskans are really, really grateful. I was just out at the state fair and non stop meeting Nebraskans at the state fair. Thank you governor 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, 8 out of 10 Nebraskans 100% supportive.

[B]

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

[D]

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 taken place along with our National Guard doing the administrative function. So we will have, 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 the, on Interstate 80 and other highways of, of license plates. And so we're able to find their I. Interstate 80 goes east, west 500 miles across the 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, 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, when we have people that have been living in Nebraska for 20 and 30 years working. You know, the federal government's got to do their job to figure out the immigration. Our job is to keep us safe. We're, we're not, we're not a part of the deportation thought process.

[B]

Pretty complicated issue is the, the issue of having, you know, 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, this is difficult. How do you handle that in the state? What's your message to employers in the state?

[D]

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 that all of the farmers and the cattle feeders and the folks that I know, you 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 Nebraskans agree, all conservative Americans agree it's a no brainer. And we're really, really proud of all the work people are doing.

[B]

You know, we started talking about, 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? Like how do, 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.

[D]

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 with led by conservative. 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 D.C. have to quit playing Google politics and quit worrying about themselves. Republicans and Democrats come together and solve this problem. The federal bureaucracy is so, 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's come here undocumented, 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. Right? 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 are led, that are the Congress gets it fixed and gets it solved. That's not things we in the state can do. We can support, we can, but that's a, that's a federal issue that has to get solved.

[B]

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, you know, agree on enough to take some additional action. Now, as for college football, awesome. How's 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, some steps taken last year. What do you think?

[D]

You know, so I had the privilege to play for legendary coach Tom Osborne 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, Dan and our AD is doing. They're great partners and we're really excited, really excited for the season. Everybody in college football says it right. Nebraska has to be great again and it's, it's time to happen.

[B]

As a Florida State fan, I used to love we had a rivalry back 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.

[D]

Well, yeah, I think that September 20th is a, is a really, really big day in Lincoln. Providing early part of the season goes as plan. We've got a game with Michigan. We owe Michigan back. And you know, Michigan's got a linebacker by the name of Ernest Housman who was adopted from Africa and he grew up in our church, you know, 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, block him well when we play Michigan. But that'll be a big game. That'll be a good tested give us the confidence to go the rest of the year.

[B]

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 sort of 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.

[D]

Yeah, hey, thank you, John. Let's, let's enjoy college football season because it is special stuff.

[B]

That was Nebraska governor Jim Pillin and this has been a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

[C]

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