The State Budget Committee on Wednesday approved a request from the Indiana Department of Correction for $15.79 million in state funding to prepare Miami Correctional Facility for use in a new federal immigration detention agreement. Officials said in the budget committee request that those improvements are “necessary to operate a proposed detention facility at Miami Correctional Facility in order to facilitate the federal immigration and law enforcement activity” and will be undertaken “upon execution of the agreement with the federal government.”The request was approved just after DOC finalized a two-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In addition to DOC’s detention arrangement, state police and other agencies signed agreements with ICE to collaborate on enforcement efforts across the state. Officials confirmed last month that the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City will remain open “for some time” after the new $1.2 billion Northwest Indiana Correctional Facility opens in 2027, backing away from earlier plans to shutter it. Westville Correctional Facility, located just 14 miles south, will still close as originally planned.