Profiting from Enforcement: The Role of Private Prisons in U.S. Immigration Detention
May 2, 2018
Feature
By Livia Luan
The last few decades have witnessed the rising involvement and influence of the private prison industry in U.S. immigration enforcement, alongside the expansion of the immigration detention system. During fiscal year (FY) 2016, approximately 353,000 immigrants identified for detention or removal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) passed through one of more than 200 immigration detention facilities, up from 209,000 in 2001. As of August 2016, nearly three-quarters of the average daily immigration detainee population was held in facilities operated by private prison companies—a sharp contrast from a decade ago, when the majority were held in ICE-contracted bedspace in local jails and state prisons.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/profiting-enforcement-role-private-prisons-us-immigration-detention
