Is money behind aggressive immigration enforcement?

President Donald Trump recently announced he is ending catch-and-release policies, meaning immigrants in the United States illegally and discovered by authorities will be detained instead of released while awaiting judicial proceedings. The Trump administration also plans to rescind an Obama administration plan to reduce use of private prisons and has vowed to enforce immigration laws “aggressively” by arresting and deporting all of those in the country illegally regardless of the criminal history of the individual. This is a recipe for disaster at taxpayer expense.

It’s been estimated that the United States spends about $5.4 million a day detaining immigrants. The number of detained immigrants has soared over the last 20 years from fewer than 7,500 beds in 1995 to 34,000 beds mandated by federal law today. Around 65 percent of all detained immigrants are being held in privately run facilities.

Most of these immigrants are not criminals aside from the fact that their presence in the United States is illegal, and they are not dangers to their communities. A 2012 study conducted by the Center for Migration Studies found that less than 10 percent of people held in ICE custody had been convicted of violent crimes. Meanwhile detention of mothers and children has increased by about 4,000 percent over the last decade.

Aside from the astronomical financial costs of detaining so many people who are not dangerous, there is a distinct human cost as well. Human rights abuses including inadequate food, sanitation, and health care are well documented in privately run facilities in addition to physical and sexual abuse.

Considering the economic and human costs of detaining immigrants who are not dangerous in privately run facilities, one wonders why the Trump administration is pursuing this policy. One explanation is that private prison corporations and the Trump administration have a mutually beneficial relationship to the detriment of taxpayers.

Private prison corporations GEO Group and Corrections Corp. of America, now CoreCivic, have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying since 1989. GEO Group, a private prison corporation donated over $225,000 to pro-Trump super PACS in an alleged violation of federal law. GEO Group additionally donated $250,000 to support Trump’s inaugural festivities.

CoreCivic’s stock has risen 140 percent and GEO Group’s stock has risen 98 percent since Trump’s election. As CoreCivic and GEO Group get richer, allowing them to pour more money into political campaigns, taxpayers are left holding the bag for this economic imprudence and moral bankruptcy. KELSEY KENT Fayetteville