Many states commonly sign contracts with private prison companies that contain “lockup quotas.” These are promises states make to fill the companies’ prisons to near full capacity to guarantee profits. In exchange, lawmakers who facilitate these unethical deals often receive generous campaign contributions from the private prison industry.
Thanks to a new report from Grassroots Leadership, we know the extent to which the federal government is guilty of the same misconduct, offering “immigrant detention quotas” to private prison companies. Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Congress has helped boost the profits of private prison companies while promoting a shameful business model in which the freedom of others is something to be exploited.
Since a quota of 33,400 detention beds was established through the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010, according to the report, our nation’s immigrant detention system “has expanded significantly.” The quota itself has been “the driver of an increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement strategy.”
In 2013, the quota was increased to 34,000.
More and more immigrants, including many women and children, are increasingly deprived of their freedom to reach this number. The two leaders in the industry, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group, Inc., operate eight of the 10 largest immigrant detention centers.
Their profits have soared since the immigrant detention quota was introduced. Between 2007 and 2014, CCA profits increased 46 percent to nearly $200 million a year. For The GEO Group in the same period, profits rose by an astounding 244 percent to more than $143 million.
The report also makes clear that despite these companies’ claims to the contrary, they lobby the federal government heavily on issues related to immigrant detention and immigration reform. These two top companies have spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions.
The report recommends eliminating the immigrant detention quota from the 2016 appropriations budget; increasing oversight within the private prison contracting system and launching a system-wide review of contracted prisons; ending contracts at facilities with recurring abuse and penalizing contractors for such abuse; and prioritizing policies that expand the use of non-punitive, community-supported alternatives to the immigrant detention program.
Urge your representatives in Congress to end immigrant detention quotas. Sign this petition hosted by the American Friends Service Committee.