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 …

Business of Detention Reporters Renee Feltz and Stokely Baksh were published on The American Prospect site. In their article “Detention Retention,” they examine what enforcement and detention prospects will look like under the Obama administration.
President Obama has tried to split the difference between comprehensive immigration-reform advocates and law-and-order types. But for immigrants in detention, not much has changed since the Bush era…
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The Secure Communities program, targeting criminal aliens and E-Verify are just three of the Department of Homeland Security’s priorities, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke about in a hearing in front of the House Appropriations Committee on Homeland Security Tuesday.
One key thing to note is that when asked about alternatives to detention, Napolitano expressed that alternatives were as expensive as detention, which could suggest that the current demand for detention beds will continue.
From Napolitano’s written testimony:
E-Verify: Total funding of $112 million and 80 new positions are requested to support improvements to …

From ICE:
PHILADELPHIA – Today, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) launched the Secure Communities program in Bucks and Montgomery counties to better identify and remove criminal aliens from these communities. This program, administered by DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will now check the immigration history of every individual booked into detention facilities in the two counties. Additionally, ICE will be automatically notified when non U.S. citizens are in custody to determine if follow-up action is necessary.
“Secure Communities will create a constant ICE presence at every local …