For-profit prisons stand to make a killing on the SB1070 ruling.
We are quick to look the other way when undocumented workers take on difficult and dangerous jobs that most Americans will not do, and yet we’re shocked when these “hidden” workers show up in our emergency rooms or try to send their kids to school.
For-profit prisons like Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group now stand to make a killing on the SB1070 ruling after raking in hundreds of millions detaining illegal immigrants since ’05. Think they have any interest in immigration reform or legalizing guest workers?
From The Huffington Post
Arizona Immigration Law Ruling May Mean Boon For Private Prison Business
As the Supreme Court upheld a central provision of Arizona’s controversial immigration law on Monday -– a requirement for law enforcement to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants — a powerful corporate lobby may stand to benefit: the private prison industry.
For-profit prison companies including Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group Inc. have capitalized on the immigration crackdown over the past decade, now controlling nearly half of the nation’s vast immigrant detention system. Both companies have more than doubled revenues from the business of detaining immigrants since 2005, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Some immigration reform advocates and lawyers have argued that the upholding of the so-called “show me your papers” portion of Arizona’s SB 1070 may bring more undocumented immigrants into the web of federal immigration enforcement, resulting in increased detentions and deportations.
“This is really the pointy end of the sword of SB 1070,” said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrants’ rights group. “It provides a real boon, a real growth opportunity for the private prison industry in the State of Arizona.”
A Corrections Corporation of America spokesman said that “under longstanding policy, CCA does not and has not ever taken positions on or promoted any sentencing or detention legislation.” A spokesman for the GEO Group did not respond to questions. In the past, CCA officials have stressed that the federal government, not local law enforcement, makes the ultimate decision on which undocumented immigrants should be detained.
Federal officials attempted to assert their authority in Arizona on Monday by rescinding previous agreements with state law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law at a local level. A senior administration official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has formally told agents in Arizona to prioritize only the most serious violations referred by local law enforcement. Those include potential undocumented immigrants with a criminal history and repeat border crossers.
“We will not allow a state to set our enforcement priorities,” the senior administration official said.
Yet legal observers argue that the federal government’s talk of prioritizing certain immigrants is at odds with the recent drive of President Barack Obama’s administration to appear tough on immigration enforcement. The administration has deported record numbers of undocumented immigrants, approaching nearly 400,000 each of the last two years, and critics have said the increased Arizona enforcement could bring more opportunities for detention and deportation.
Page 1 of 11 | Next page