Opinion: Use the Mason prison for juvenile intervention, not an ICE detention center
The CoreCivic West Tennessee Detention Facility, which has been closed since 2021, is expected to reopen by late August and be used by ICE to detain immigrants. (Jody Callahan/The Daily Memphian)
John Vergos
John Vergos is co-owner of the Rendezvous restaurant, and a managing director of Novel bookstore. A former Memphis City Council member, Vergos was original chairman of the Penal Farm for Public Use Committee, which kept Shelby Farms from being sold for development in the early 1970s.
“There is no doubt in my mind this facility can go a long way in helping Memphis reduce crime and help some of these children. It is desperately needed. Cost and bureaucracy should not be a problem.”
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