U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Iowans are concerned about the possibility of suspected terrorists being imprisoned across the Mississippi River in western Illinois, and he doesn't blame them.

Grassley said he not only opposes the prisoners being in Illinois, but anywhere in America. The federal government is looking into buying the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., to house Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees.

"I oppose them even coming to the United States," Grassley told Iowa reporters in a conference call Wednesday. Grassley said his Washington office received 10 phones Wednesday morning with opposition to moving detainees to Thomson.

Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, in a separate call with reporters Wednesday, scolded critics of the possible move for failing to inform themselves about the proposal.

“Rather than engage in political fear mongering, I did what my constituents elected me to do,” Braley said. “I drove to Thomson, Illinois, where I received an extensive briefing from representatives from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Defense.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday dismissed concerns by some over having five alleged Sept. 11 attack participants including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others tried in civilian court in New York. Holder said he expects a spirited prosecution of the men that will result in convictions.

Grassley said Holder's plan is misguided, while stating the trials should be military tribunals.

"They are still enemy combatants.... I think that it brings legitimacy to terrorism, that they have the constitutional rights of every other criminal in America. They have more constitutional rights, as terrorists in our courtroom in New York, than our own soldiers, putting their life on the line in the battlefield, have if they were court-martialed," Grassley said.

-- James Q. Lynch of the Cedar Rapids Gazette contributed to this report.