U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos have written a letter to the Department of Justice in an effort to keep a hiring freeze from affecting the Thomson Prison in northwestern Illinois. Durbin and Bustos sent the letter saying that the freeze President Donald Trump ordered in January has already forced the facility to postpone hiring a new class of incoming officers.
The lawmakers say if the Justice Department doesn't exempt the Bureau of Prisons from Trump's hiring freeze, Thomson Prison's goal of accepting inmates by the end of the year may be delayed.
Durbin toured the maximum security prison in October, saying it was on track to open at the end of the year. The facility has been under renovation since June 2015.
