Hobart, Indiana Mayor Brian Snedecor garnered applause from immigration right advocates over the weekend after announcing opposition to plans for a for-profit immigration prison in his town.

For-profit prison operator the GEO Group, which purchased land in Hobart, is looking to contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrants at a prison it wants to build in the northwest Indiana city. Local residents with the Concerned Citizens of Hobart are spearheading the campaign against the facility. 

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), which has worked with Concerned Citizens of Hobart, applauded Snedecor's decision to speak out against the proposed facility.

"The mayor stated his opposition definitively and forcefully," said ICIRR's Policy Director Fred Tsao. "The mayor has clearly heard the voices of Hobart residents and allies from across northwest Indiana and the Chicago region who have spoken, petitioned, posted yard signs, and taken other steps opposing this proposal."

ICIRR also worked with residents in the Illinois communities of Crete and Joliet during the past two years to successfully defeat plans for private immigration prisons in those cities.