Durbin tours Thomson prison

November 22, 2009 The facility, which is about 150 miles west of Chicago, may eventually house Guantanamo Bay detainees. It's remained nearly empty due to state budget issues.

Durbin addressed concerns critics have over detainees being brought to Illinois.

"We safely incarcerate, in Illinois today, 35 convicted terrorists in our prisons already, and it's not changing our state in any way at all," Durbin said.

Those who support moving the detainees to Illinois say it would create thousands of jobs.