The American Conservative: Who’s Making Money From the Border Crisis? Private Prisons

Date:  07-26-2019 This year ICE detained over 53,000 people at a cost to taxpayers of $148.43 per person per day

From The American Conservative: The Trump administration’s decision to vastly increase the number of immigrants held in prisons has proven controversial. It’s also big business. The vast majority of people jailed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are held in private facilities. The two companies that manage over half of the private prison contracts in the U.S., CoreCivic and GEO Group, earned more than $4 billion in 2017. Both have spent millions of dollars on lobbyists and campaign contributions, ostensibly to ensure that Washington continues to favor the $2 billion detention system. Last year, ICE detained an average of 44,892 people every day, and this year, that number is north of 53,000. The number of families apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border increased by 300 percent this fiscal year. The Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Fund requested a budget increase to cover the detention of 60,000 people per day. Continue reading >>>