Multimedia Investigations 2008
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[ 2 Jun 2009 | No Comment | ]

The nation's largest private prison company has partnered with the federal government to detain close to 1 million undocumented people in the past 5 years until they are deported. In the process, Corrections Corporation of America has made record profits. Critics suggest the CCA cuts corners on its detention contracts in order to increase its revenue at expense of humane conditions. Thanks to political connections and lobby spending, it dominates the industry of immigrant detention. CCA now has close to 10,000 new beds under development in anticipation of continued demand.

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Detention, Enforcement, Policy »

[ 12 Nov 2009 | No Comment | ]

We wrote last week that CCA will likely bid on a new detention center in Los Angeles.  Andrew Becker at the Center for Investigative Reporting blogs today that ICE will soon begin collecting proposals:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, posted an online notice this week stating that it intends to open bids on Dec. 15 for a contractor to own and operate a low-custody detention facility for men.
The facility would be one of the largest immigration lock-ups in the country. Continuing a policy pushed …

Detention, Enforcement, Policy, Uncategorized »

[ 5 Nov 2009 | No Comment | ]

In earnings reports released this week the nation’s two largest private prison operators cited “significant growth opportunities” for detaining immigrants, driven largely by the Obama administration’s emphasis on detaining “criminal aliens.”
The GEO Group – an international private prison operator that draws about 75 percent of its revenue from controlling a quarter of the U.S. private prison industry – said it believes that “this federal initiative to target, detain, and deport “criminal aliens” throughout the country will continue to drive the need for immigration detention beds over the next several years.”
A …

Detention, Enforcement, Policy »

[ 24 Oct 2009 | One Comment | ]

The Center for Investigative Reporting report that:
A second high-ranking official in a two-month-old federal office that oversees immigration detention policy and planning has left the government, sources say.
Cree Zischke, tasked with addressing detainee health care issues for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning, departed just weeks after her boss, Dr. Dora Schriro, left ICE in late September to become commissioner of New York City’s jails.
“I am no longer with the ICE Office of Detention Planning and Policy (sic),” she wrote in an out-of-office auto-reply received on …

Detention, Enforcement, Policy, Uncategorized »

[ 7 Oct 2009 | 2 Comments | ]

On the same day that Corrections Corporation of America opened a new 500-bed immigrant detention center in Georgia, Homeland Security officials released a highly anticipated review of detention centers. Accompanied by recommendations and next steps, the review promises better federal oversight and health care in the largely outsourced network of prisons and jails that house a daily average of 32,000 people with pending immigration and refugee status requests.
“The government has recognized that it has a massive system with serious problems, and has identified steps to ameliorate the situation,” …

Uncategorized »

[ 7 Aug 2009 | No Comment | ]

On the heels of Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s announcement that it will stop holding children in Corrections Corporation of America’s T. Don Hutto Detention Center, the company assured investors that they still expect plenty of business from the federal government.
“In some respects there may not have been much of a change,” said Damon Hininger, CCA’s President and Chief Operating Officer during a conference call on Thursday with investors.
Hininger said CCA had “just learned yesterday that ICE wants us to renegotiate” the Hutto contract and that a timetable for the negotiations …

Detention, Policy »

[ 27 Jun 2009 | No Comment | ]
TN court to determine if CCA will release records

The Tennessean reported June 26 that the Tennessee state appeals court will determine if Corrections Corporation of America, the largest U.S. private detention operator, is an equivalent to a government entity, and therefore should release public records to the same extent.
CCA says that “the release of such records will set a bad precedent with other private companies who contract with the state,” reported the newspaper. Currently, private prison operators do not have to release public records.
Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News Associate Editor and vice president of advocacy group Private Corrections …

Detention, Enforcement, Prosecution, Uncategorized »

[ 26 May 2009 | No Comment | ]
Two more detention facilities in CA, despite state financial woes

Two more detention facilities will be going up in California.
Last week, the AP reported that ICE was seeking proposals to build a privately run 2,200 immigration bed facility in Los Angeles. The facility will be located within a 120 mile radius of the DHS/ICE Los Angeles Field Office currently located at 300 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Currently, ICE can house up to 1,400 detainees at a facility owned by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as well as other local jails it contracts.
Meanwhile, Corrections Corporation …