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  1. #1
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    Private Prisons Will Get Totally Slammed By Immigration Reform

    Private Prisons Will Get Totally Slammed By Immigration Reform

    Paul Szoldra | Feb. 2, 2013, 8:30 AM

    As the Senate and the White House turn their focus to comprehensive immigration reform, little attention has been given to who would be negatively impacted by any move to fix the country's broken immigration system and provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Perhaps no one has a bigger interest in maintaining the status quo than private prisons, a billion dollar industry built largely on contracts with federal agencies, including Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    Over the past decade, revenues for the industry giants — Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group — have skyrocketed, thanks in large part to a a federal program introduced under President George W. Bush in 2005 dubbed Operation Streamline, which brought federal criminal charges against people who cross the border illegally.

    “[Prior to 2005,] typically when someone was apprehended at the border they would be deported or dealt with in the civil immigration system," Bob Labil, executive director of Grassroots Leadership, told Business Insider. "What Streamline did was move those people into the criminal justice system and charged them with one of two crimes."

    On first illegal entry, immigrants are now prosecuted for a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in federal prison. If an individual tries to cross again, it is considered a felony, punishable by up to 20 years. The zero-tolerance policy is a fast-track to put non-violent offenders into U.S. prisons, with criminal cases often resolved in only two days.

    The program is part of the Department of Homeland Security's enormous $18 billion immigration enforcement budget — more than what's spent by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives combined.

    The result has been a 49 percent increase in detainee population since 2005, and 107 percent increase in the price private prisons charge for government contracts since 2004.

    In 2011, GEO Group and CCA reported combined revenues of over $1.3 billion, a 137 percent increase from 2004. (A third major private prison company, Management and Training, does not publicly disclose its earnings.)
    GEO Group's CEO George Zoley spells out the connection clearly in his 2011 letter to shareholders:

    "At the federal level, initiatives related to border enforcement and immigration detention with an emphasis on criminal alien populations as well as the consolidation of existing detainee populations have continued to create demand for larger-scale, cost efficient facilities."

    Understandably, these companies see immigration reform as a serious threat to profits.

    "For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them," CCA wrote in its 2011 report to shareholders.

    And from a 2011 GEO filing with the SEC: "Immigration reform laws which are currently a focus for legislators and politicians at the federal, state and local level also could materially adversely impact us."

    Over the past decade, private prison companies have attempted to mitigate these risks, spending a combined $45 million on lobbying and campaign contributions, according to an August report from the AP.

    A spokesperson for CCA insisted that they are not trying to influence immigration policy to increase profits.

    "The cited language from a past annual report represents standard disclosure language to help investors — many of whom may not be familiar with corrections and detention processes — make informed investment decisions," said company spokesman Steve Owen in an email. "Under longstanding corporate policy, CCA does not draft, lobby for or in any way promote crime, sentencing or detention enforcement legislation. The primary focus of our federal lobbying efforts is education on the merits and benefits of public-private partnership in corrections generally, and the relevant services CCA provides."

    GEO Group did not respond to our request for comment.


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    Read more: Private Prisons Will Get Totally Slammed By Immigration Reform - Business Insider

  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    There are about 479,773 fugitive aliens roaming the country.
    (That is people who already have a court order to leave the country and haven't.)
    There are 104 Fugitive Op Teams out looking for them.
    This will keep the prisons busy as arrest are made and fugitives deported.

    (Plus all aliens who don't qualify for amnsty because of criminal convictions are still deportable.)



    Key ICE Fugitive Operations Initiatives


    • The National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP) reduces the fugitive alien population in the United States.



    • ICE databases show the targeted enforcement strategy is paying off as the nation's fugitive alien population continues to decline. At the end of fiscal year (FY) 2011, there were approximately 479,773 fugitive alien cases — a decrease of more than 26,559 since the beginning of the fiscal year.



    • Much of the credit for these results can be attributed to the rapid expansion of the program and the establishment of the Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC). The initiative launched in 2003 with eight Fugitive Operations Teams (FOTs) nationwide. Today, ICE has 104 FOTs deployed nationwide to pursue these types of cases.



    • In FY 2011, these teams accounted for more than 40,000 arrests, an increase in the number of arrests for the ninth straight year.



    • ICE established the FOSC in June 2006 in South Burlington, Vt. It has since relocated to Williston, Vt. The FOSC is a key element in addressing the burgeoning fugitive alien problem in the United States. The Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU) uses the FOSC to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the NFOP.



    • Through the use of technology and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, the FOSC provides a specialized unit that focuses on analyzing the nature and characteristics of the U.S. fugitive alien backlog and the at-large criminal alien population as recorded in the Enforce Alien Removal Module (EARM). This effort has reduced the reported number of existing fugitives by reconciling records to eliminate those who have left the country voluntarily, successfully adjusted their status, or were discovered to be incarcerated and, therefore, no longer fugitives.


    http://www.ice.gov/fugitive-operations/
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 02-02-2013 at 07:34 PM.
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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