The immigration business
• More immigrants detained • Profits up for private prisons

Pilar Marrero

THERE are companies making plenty of money with the increasing detention of immigrants in the United States, a growth industry which will apparently continue to expand.

The corporations which construct and manage private prisons have experienced a boom over the last several years, not as a result of contracts with states, given their budget problems, but rather with the federal government, in particular as a result of increased detention of immigrants.

Three main companies involved in the construction, remodeling and administration of private prisons are vying for government contracts: Corrections Corporations of America (CCA), the GEO Group and Cornell. This latter was acquired last year by GEO, making CCA and GEO the most important.

The two had a combined income of three billion dollars in 2010 and control 75% of the private prison market. The greatest part of their business is composed of contracts for state prisons but the future does not lie in this area, since state governments do not have the funds to spend on new prisons.

"The money is in immigration," said Paul Ashton, a researcher for the Justice Policy Institute, an organization which recently published a report on profits made by the private correctional industry and how it is trying to influence public policy in order to increase its earnings.

"States are cutting back everywhere, even on prisons, for budget reasons, but the federal government isn’t facing this pressure. It is investing more and more in detaining immigrants." The detention of immigrants has been continually increasing since 1996. In fact, the number of immigrants detained has increased threefold, as a result of changes in immigration policy since that time. Over the last five years, the number has doubled, according to the Detention Watch Network.

The private prisons have done very well throughout this period. While the number of prisoners in general within the United States has increased by 49%, the number incarcerated in private centers has grown 354%, according to federal statistics.

Authorities within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) are at this time implementing a reform of the immigrant detention system. Part of this process entails moving immigrants from contracted incarceration in local jails to specialized detention centers, including those for immigrants not facing criminal charges.

The GEO Group has, in fact, recently reported in its company magazine (Geo World, published quarterly and available online) that it expects to rake in substantial profits managing two new centers for the federal government, one in California and another in Texas.

"We are finalizing the renovation of the Adelanto Processing Center, with a 650-bed capacity, for use by a federal client," reported the magazine. Adelanto, a city in San Bernardino county, nine miles from Victorville, was forced to sell its local jail to the Geo Group for 28 million dollars, since it was on the brink of bankruptcy and needed the money for basic public services.

In order to avoid current employees losing their jobs, the city acquired a contract with ICE to house detained immigrants, with GEO as the subcontractor adding 650 beds and managing everyday operations.

At several places around the country, GEO is making similar arrangements with cities and states to acquire new federal immigrant detention centers. The one in Texas, according to GEO World, will be a "new civil detention center" for "low-risk" immigrants. That is to say, those not facing criminal charges.

All of this means more money for the company. With the two locations, GEO will profit 15 million dollars a year, according to the published article.

Since 2001, CCA has seen its income increase 88% and GEO, 121%. GEO is a multinational corporation which also manages the detention of immigrants in other countries.

For example, GEO manages a prison for immigrants in Scotland, located within a castle, once owned by a duke as a hunting lodge and now property of the British government.

These companies do not limit themselves, however, to seeking government contracts to provide detention services. According to the Justice Policy Institute report, they also spend millions of dollars on lobbying politicians to make decisions not only specifically related to their contracts but also about budgets for detention and crime-fighting programs. "It is hard to tell how much they actually spend since their finances are not transparent, precisely because they are private corporations and not public entities," said Emily Tucker, of Detention Watch Network. "Right now, we are analyzing the relations these companies have with government officials and former officials, in the area of immigration."

For example, Julie Myers, who was Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security and ICE director during the Bush administration, is now GEO’s lobbyist, after working in this capacity for another company called Behavioral Intervention (B.I).

B.I. manufactures alternatives to incarceration, including electronic monitoring equipment used in ankle bracelets worn by immigrants released on bail.

According to the Detention Watch Network analysis, the five corporations holding contracts with ICE spent more than 20 million dollars on lobbying over the last decade. CCA and GEO carried out lobbying activities with a wide variety of government departments.