AUSTIN, Texas —
The for-profit prison sector would have been hit hard by the Great Recession had it not been for expanded federal immigration enforcement. That's according to a just-released report by The Sentencing Project. States suffering budget shortfalls, like Texas, have trimmed prison populations, reducing the need for new private contracts. But federal agencies have helped take up the slack by increasingly relying on private facilities to hold detainees awaiting hearings, according to Cody Mason, who authored the report.
"A lot of the detention growth is coming from immigrant detainees. There are these huge networks of facilities that they're being housed in, and they're not properly being overseen. It's hard to keep track of where people are being held and what companies are actually holding them."
He says most new detention centers are for-profit. One such facility opened this year in Karnes City. It's an example of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's effort to steer fewer detainees into the prison system.
Mason agrees that "civil detention facilities" are an improvement over prisons. He says prisons don't adequately protect immigrants who have not been convicted of crimes from human-rights abuses. But he says there is no good reason to farm out civil holding centers to companies seeking profits.
"Their best interest is in us detaining more individuals - more immigrants, more prisoners - and it just doesn't really seem to be having any positive benefits for the people that are being detained, for the taxpayers, or for the governments."
Supporters of privatization say flexible contracts save taxpayer money. Opponents argue that any savings are minimal and come from substandard conditions and underpaid, overworked employees.
Border-community advocates fear another side-effect of privatization: corporations lobbying for immigration-enforcement policies that will boost their bottom line. ACLU of Texas Public Education Director Dotty Griffith says that could undermine immigration reform efforts.
"Discussions about detention of undocumented immigrants should be about the policy, not about increasing profits for any corporation that makes money off of putting people in prison."
She worries that the public interest may be shifting from locking up the right people to locking up the right number of people. The Sentencing Project's Cody Mason says more transparency in lobbying and campaign financing is needed to reveal the full extent of corporate influence on incarceration and immigration policies.
Breaking news
Report: Profit Motive May Be Influencing Immigration Policies
- Breaking news
-
-
UPDATE: Lake Charles Police searching for missing person
The Lake Charles Police Department is actively searching for a Missing Person, Leroy Stewart Sr, 84 years of age.
-
SC man gets 15 years in alleged drug murder plot
A federal judge has sentenced a Columbia, S.C. man to 15 years in prison for his participation in a cocaine and marijuana trafficking conspiracy.
-
Federal audit confirms cheating at El Paso schools
A federal audit confirms several schools in El Paso cheated on high-stakes accountability tests during the tenure of now-convicted superintendent Lorenzo Garcia.
-
Crews battling Colo. wildfire hold flames in check
Authorities lifted evacuations in a wide swath of terrain outside Colorado Springs on Friday as they said a surprise rain shower helped them expand containment of a wildfire that has destroyed 400 homes.
-
Gov. Perry Signs Religious Freedoms Bill
Gov. Rick Perry today signed House Bill 308, which allows public school students and staff to use traditional holiday greetings and display religious scenes and symbols on school property.
-
Leader wins 11 awards at Southeast Texas Press Club banquet
The Orange Leader editorial staff took home 11 awards this past Friday at the annual Southeast Texas Press Club Awards Banquet.
-
Quirante named Male Athlete of the Year
Vidor High School can proudly say it is home to The Orange Leader’s Athlete of the Year.
-
Roy named Female Athlete of the Year
No time to rest. That pretty much sums up Little Cypress-Mauriceville graduate Kayleigh Roy.
-
All-Time Orange Leader Athletes of the Year
Here are the all-time Athletes of the Year by The Orange Leader:
-
Reader sends in photos of marsh fire off Texas 87
Reader Tammy Smith sent in these two photos of a marsh fire off Texas 87 near Bridge City. The scene looked really interesting as bad weather rolled into the area at about 7 p.m. The red from the flames could be seen against the low, dark clouds.
- More Breaking news Headlines
-
