Burris backs Gitmo prisoner transfer to Illinois

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) on Tuesday expressed his support for a plan to transfer suspected terrorists now housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to a facility in Illinois.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced the plan, which is backed by nearly all Democrats.

"I support the transfer of inmates to the Thomson Correctional Center, and I have full confidence that the facility will hold these terrorism suspects safely and securely," Burris said in a statement.

Burris, like other Democrats, cited the plan as an opportunity to create jobs in a state that has 11 percent unemployment. Under the proposal, a limited amount of detainees would be housed at the little-used Thompson Correctional Facility in the northwestern part of the state.

Once the federal government acquires the facility, it would upgrade beyond "supermax" security specifications.

Republicans object to the plan, saying that moving terror suspects onto the U.S. mainland could present national security risks.