It seems most people were pleased when Obama announced he would close the military prison in Cuba, but when the time came to move detainees to the U.S., states have only looked to serve themselves, saying the new prison should be anywhere but there. Stupak is one of the few to offer a solution.

The prospect of about 240 terror suspects moving to a quiet frontier city in Michigan might be a little startling to many in the area, and that concern is understandable. One of the perks to living in the Upper Peninsula is a low crime rate, and this could shake locals’ ideas of their safety. But the chances of a breakout or an attack on the prison are greatly overstated. These things could happen, sure. But they are — at best — rare. Residents are probably more likely to see Big Foot than they are to see an escaped suspect.

It seems counterintuitive, but bringing in this many dangerous people could actually improve the area’s overall safety. Some of the safest places to live in the state are next to prisons. In the unlikely event an escape were to happen, the prisoners most likely would not choose to stay in the area. They probably would want to be as far from there as possible, as quickly as possible.

Also, reopening this facility would bring in large amounts of military personnel and their presence alone could deter crime. The city would quickly swell with a huge group of people who deal with some of the most high-profile prisoners in the world on a daily basis. Any criminal in the area would take this into serious consideration before attempting anything.

The new workers wouldn’t only provide extra protection. A prison would warrant considerable amounts of government money, both in funding and paychecks, being put into the local economy. This instant injection of money would help businesses in the area and would lay the groundwork for new enterprises. Locals might not be getting security jobs, but there would be employment opportunities. It might be an unfortunate statement about our government, but prisons are decent moneymakers.

The reality of the situation is this prison has to be put somewhere. It can’t be put at another base in another country, because the facility would be open to the same problems that led to its closing in the first place. It’s much easier for a politician to try to push the problem off onto another state. Why not Wyoming? There’s plenty of open space and very few residents.

The truth is, the U.P. has the exact same qualities. In fact, given the wilderness that surrounds the cities, an escaped prisoner is more likely to die on their own in the U.P. than in Wyoming.

At the very least, Stupak deserves some respect for trying to be a part of the solution instead of pawning the problem off to someone else.