Today, privatized detention facilities have an ever-increasing influence over immigration policy and control measures due to rising rates of detainees in the system.\u00a0 According to the Detention Watch Network, the annual number of immigrants detained and the costs to keep them has doubled in the last five years (Detention Watch Network, 2011).\u00a0 The three major competing corporations are the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the GEO Group, and the Management and Training Corporation. While public detention centers have to comply with government rules and regulations, private corporations are self-interested and profit-driven, which leads to higher rates of rights violations.\u00a0 The role of detention centers is changing as private corporations advocate for stricter immigration laws.\u00a0 Stricter laws, means more arrests and over-crowding in detention facilities, mistreatment of workers and detainees, as well as increasing costs to tax payers.\u00a0 By looking critically at the privatization of detention centers and the problems associated with them we can advocate for change.<\/p>\n
The public should be aware of the role of private corporations and the ways they seek to turn a profit at the sake of human detainees.\u00a0 Since 9\/11, the number of detainees has skyrocketed (Detention Watch Network, 2011). Private prison corporations make big profits from immigrant detention. \u00a0In 2010 the annual revenue for the CCA was $1.69 billion, and the revenue for the GEO group was $1.17 billion (Detention Watch Network). These corporations stand to benefit from cracking down on immigration control similar to corporations involved in war. Private corporations now provide 49 percent of the beds for immigrant detainees (Detention Watch Network, 2011).\u00a0 The CCA and GEO Group help the government by taking over the industry because they can do the job for less.\u00a0 However, in an effort to cut their costs, their facilities are understaffed and overcrowded.<\/p>\n
Detainees experience prolonged detention, insufficient medical treatment, sexual abuse, and other human rights violations (Detention Watch Network, 2011).\u00a0 Conditions for the workers aren\u2019t much better considering they pay lower than the government, have less benefits, and therefore a high turnover rate.<\/p>\n
Additionally, as a business, corporations are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which protects them from acknowledging these violations (http:\/\/www.nist.gov\/admin\/foia\/<\/a>, 2006).\u00a0 The Detention Watch Network states, \u201cThe private prison industry has been very explicit about its intention to influence immigration detention policy and practice in accordance with its own profit motive\u201d (2011). Private corporations spend thousands of dollars lobbying state representatives and government entities, and were very influential in the drafting and passing of Arizona SB 1070.<\/p>\n It is expensive to house detainees, and how much of it is necessary?\u00a0 Immigrants can be detained for months to years in inhumane conditions.\u00a0 The cost for one detainee a day is $166 (Math of Immigration Detention, 2011). \u00a0Taxpayers could save more than $1.6 billion if only individuals convicted of serious crimes were detained. However, most detainees were arrested for non-violent crimes (Math of Immigration Detention, 2011). \u00a0Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is supposed to prioritize its limited detention resources to<\/p>\n primarily combat the most serious offenses, 65% of all immigrants who were detained and deported from 1996 to 2006 were detained after being arrested for non-violent offenses (http:\/\/www.acluga.org\/FactSheetSecurelyInsecure.pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n Detention centers are also said to be ineffective and counterproductive in deterring immigration (http:\/\/idcoalition.org\/cap\/handbook\/capfindings\/<\/a>; http:\/\/www.detentionwatchnetwork.org\/aboutdetention<\/a>).\u00a0 According to the ACLU and Detention Watch Network, alternative, more humane, forms of monitoring immigrants outside of detention facilities cost as little as $12 per day.\u00a0 Additionally, over half of the immigrant detainees have no criminal record (http:\/\/www.detentionwatchnetwork.org\/aboutdetention<\/a>).\u00a0 As a result, families and individuals suffer in detention centers, being held unnecessarily for prolonged periods of time while the CCA, the GEO Group, and other private corporations make huge profits and advocate for stricter immigration laws.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n 2011. \u201cThe Influence of the Private Prison Industry in Immigration Detention.\u201d<\/p>\n Detention Watch Network<\/em>. Retrieved May 4, 2012 (http:\/\/www.detentionwatchnetwork.org\/privateprisons<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cTen Things IDC Research Found About Immigration Detention.\u201d International <\/em><\/p>\n Detention Coalition<\/em>. Retrieved May 4, 2012 (http:\/\/idcoalition.org\/cap\/handbook\/capfindings\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n 2011. \u201cThe Math of Immigration Detention: Runaway Costs for Immigration<\/p>\n Detention Do Not Add Up to Sensible Policies.\u201d National Immigration Forum<\/em>. Retrieved May 4, 2012 (http:\/\/www.as-coa.org\/integration\/data.php?dataID=1512<\/a>).<\/p>\n 2011. \u201cThe Money Trail.\u201d Detention Watch Network<\/em>. Retrieved May 4, 2012<\/p>\n (http:\/\/detentionwatchnetwork.org\/node\/2393<\/a>).<\/p>\n 2011. \u201cSecurely Insecure: The Real Costs, Consequences, and Human Face of<\/p>\n Immigration Detention.\u201d ACLU Georgia Detention Watch<\/em>. Retrieved May 4, 2012 (http:\/\/www.acluga.org\/FactSheetSecurelyInsecure.pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, privatized detention facilities have an ever-increasing influence over immigration policy and control measures due to rising rates of detainees in the system.\u00a0 According to the Detention Watch Network, the annual number of immigrants detained and the costs to keep … Continue reading