(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
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More of the Same: Private Prison Corporations and Immigration Detention Under the Biden Administration [1]
['Eunice Cho', 'Senior Staff Attorney', 'Aclu National Prison Project']
Date: 2021-10-05 17:16:47+00:00
Over the last three decades, the federal government has largely outsourced immigration detention to private prison companies. Today, private prison corporations like the GEO Group, CoreCivic, LaSalle Corrections, and the Management and Training Corporation (MTC) own or operate facilities that hold the overwhelming majority of detained people for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
During the Trump administration, ICE expanded the immigration detention system by over 50 percent, signing contracts to open over 40 new detention facilities. This expansion overwhelmingly benefitted private prison companies, which housed 91 percent of all people held in detention centers that opened during those years. In a review of these new contracts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that ICE failed to adhere to its own process for signing these agreements, concluding that ICE did not have documentation to justify the need for the space. The GAO also found that ICE disregarded the input of staff who advised against the use of several new facilities because of safety issues, understaffing, and poor conditions. In some instances, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had cancelled its contracts to house prisoners at the same facilities due to abuse and poor conditions.
Today, the Biden administration has the opportunity to reverse these trends. But closer examination shows that little has changed. In January 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing the Department of Justice to phase out its contracts with private prison companies. The executive order instructed DOJ not to renew contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities, including for Bureau of Prison (BOP) and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) sites. But the executive order did not apply to ICE detention facilities.
Today, the Biden administration is filling private prison beds emptied out by its own executive order with detained immigrants.
Four Out of Five People in ICE Detention Remain Held in Privately-Run Facilities
Under the Trump administration, 81 percent of people detained each day in January 2020 were held in facilities owned or operated by private prison corporations.
This number remains virtually unchanged under the Biden administration. As of September 2021, 79 percent of people detained each day in ICE custody are detained in private detention facilities.
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[1] Url:
https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/more-of-the-same-private-prison-corporations-and-immigration-detention-under-the-biden-administration
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