Reuters is reporting that the Obama administration will not use an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Closing the facility could have an impact on Kansas, as Stephen Koranda reports.
An executive order may have been President Obama’s best chance to close the facility during his remaining time in office. Congress has taken steps to block the transfer of detainees to the U.S. mainland, so they seem unlikely to bargain with the president on the issue.
This matters in Kansas because the prison at Leavenworth is one possible destination for detainees. Kansas elected officials have said they don’t want detainees in in the state. Republican Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins hailed the report, saying it’s been “reckless and misguided” to consider closing GITMO.
President Obama says the controversial detention center is used as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups.