Hoekstra: Obama would turn Michigan into ‘federal penal colony’

President Obama would have residents of Michigan turn their state into a “federal penal colony” in their time of economic desperation, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) accused Thursday.

Hoekstra, the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and candidate for governor of Michigan, accused the president of trying to play off the state’s economic hardships in order to convince them to take detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for placement in a Standish, Mich. federal detention facility.

“They’re trying to play off an administration in Michigan that clearly is hurting,” Hoekstra said of the Obama administration’s consideration of Standish to relocate terrorist suspects.

“They think that in Michigan’s desperation, we will just latch onto it and say, wow, we’re going to turn Michigan into a federal penal colony,” Hoekstra added, appearing on a conservative news radio syndicate.

Hoekstra explained that while he thought prison officials could handle the detainees, local officials should be given access to classified information Hoekstra is privy to as a member of the Intelligence committee about the detainees.

“The bigger answer is what happens in the community,” he said. “And for this, I think the president needs to release the classified information about the threats these people have posed and the problems that we have had detaining them in Guantanamo.”

Still, the Michigan Republican said he preferred that the president would leave the Guantanamo Bay facility in place.