Billions made from jailing immigrants
ENGLISH
The shift will primarily impact immigrants convicted of misdemeanor charges for crossing the border without authorization or felony charges for reentering the US after a prior deportation. Immigrants sentenced for illegal entry or reentry currently account for nearly 1/4 of all BOP inmates.
But the move does not impact those held in facilities under the purview of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which uses private, for profit prisons to lock up a daily average of 24,567 detainees out of a total 33,676 held by ICE overall. The numbers have increased dramatically in recent years as the Obama administration sought in vain to appease conservatives through record detention and deportation efforts as a prelude to seeking comprehensive immigration reform.
For the two main companies benefiting from private detention, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group, keeping nonviolent immigrants behind bars is a huge business, netting the jail giants at least $7 billion since 2005. Unsurprisingly, neither company has vocalized support for reforming outdated immigration laws that continue to line their pockets with gold.
Setting aside the practical reasons for halting the practice, critics maintain that it is morally objectionable for the state to deprive people of their liberty – for whatever reason – and then hand off responsibility for their care to those with a vested interest in keeping as many people locked up as possible for as long a time as possible. For those convicted of state or federal charges, their jailers have a huge impact on how long they remain behind bars, as inmates routinely rack up extra time due to behavior and policy violations levied by jail officials with little or no oversight.
Under pressure following the BOP announcement, ICE’s parent agency – the Department of Homeland Security – now says it will review its policy of using for-profit prisons to house 9 out of 10 immigrant detainees.
But as the federal government moves away from private prisons, Oklahoma is steadfastly holding on to the concept, with Governor May Fallin saying she would support privatizing all prisons in the Sooner State.
As of September 6, 2016 Oklahoma had 26,945 people behind bars, with over 22% incarcerated in prisons run for profit. There are currently three privately operated prisons within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections umbrella, Cimarron in Cushing with 1655 inmates, Lawton with 2638, and Davis in Holdenville with 1678. These prisons, operated by CCA and GEO, house both medium and maximum security offenders at a cost ranging from $44.03 to $57.96 per day. All are above their listed bed capacity.
Not included in the above state numbers are those individuals held in the Tulsa County Jail under the controversial 287(g) program, which continues to serve as a much desired revenue source for Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, just as it did for Regalado’s disgraced predecessor, Stanly Glanz. In the world of immigrant detention, locally as well as nationally, cash is paramount. (La Semana)