As you’ve heard by now, a cohort of Guantanamo detainees will make their way to Illinois’ Thomson Correctional Center. (I say “cohort” because the statement Christina Bellantoni collects from an anonymous administration official refers to “a limited number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay,” not everyone who’s left there. Presumably the announcement later today will clarify things.)

It’s good and right and long overdue to close that monstrosity. But as rudimentary as it may be to say: we don’t want Guantanamo in Illinois, and we don’t want Guantanamo in Afghanistan. We want lawful detentions and due process. Give us that and you’ve solved the problem. Deny us that and you’ve perpetuated it in a cynical and Orwellian ruse.