The Business of Detention - Cracking Down on Immigration and Locking Up Profits

[y14gemini]

The Business of Detention - Cracking Down on Immigration and Locking Up Profits

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.....

http://www.businessofdetention.com/

[nineten]

It's all about the almighty "$$$$." For years the U.S. enjoyed cheap labor and it did keep a lot of business going and now with all the anti-immigrants wanting border security and roundups, the $$ have to keep coming so here you go, more detention and more also more States asking for monetary assistance from the government to detain until deport. I knew a year ago when there was controversy over the Hugo Center in TX, I knew that this was going to become a bigger business. I think I've heard that the U.S. has the largest prison system in the world. I know in Florida it's a business, for sure.

[nineten]

y14gemini I hope you don't think I'm chasing you with the articles but I wanted to post one that's related to the detention centers.



Immigration officials show changes at detention center

TAYLOR, Texas — Pastel-colored walls adorned with cartoon characters, porcelain instead of metal toilets in cells and other upgrades have softened the inside of a former prison where dozens of immigrant children and their families are detained.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who conducted a media tour Tuesday at the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center in Taylor say the facility has become more family friendly thanks to more than 100 modifications. The changes were required under a settlement reached in a lawsuit alleging children were held in prison-like conditions.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5722306.html

[nineten]

An interesting read!


In a recent landmark report, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Jorge Bustamante said that the "overuse of immigration detention in the United States violates the spirit of international laws and conventions and, in many cases, also violates the actual letter of those instruments." South Texas immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin agrees.

http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1207&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[nineten]

Riot at Lancaster immigration center

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/04/riot_at_lancaster_immigra.php

[nineten]

Aurora ICE detention center expansion hits a snag

(MAP)
# 47 of 8,044
Filed under: DENVER , P. SOLOMON BANDA , WST ICE Expansion

DENVER (Map, News) - A businessman's appeal has slowed plans to nearly triple the size of a privately owned and operated Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Click link for full article.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1366658~Aurora_ICE_detention_center_expansion_hits _a_snag.html


Examiner Reader said:

I am so glad that this Detention Center expansion is being slowed down. The article states that of 794 immigrants detained 146 had "criminal" records, or 18%. Those who had criminal records don't even fill the current 400 beds at GEO. It is unconscionable and costly to lock up so many people who are not criminals, separating them from their families and their communities. These are our federal ax dollars at work in a recession. Why not use more cost effective and humane strategies such as ankle bracelets to monitor those who have immigration hearings pending? Why not use the money saved to build up our communities and schools instead of subsidize private for-profit prisons with questionable records?

[nineten]

WaPo To Run Explosive Series on Immigrant Detention Reform

The upcoming series ...

But instead of looking at terrorist ...

the Post is now exploring the government's detention of undocumented immigrants, presumably by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/08/wapo-to-run-explosive-ser_n_100813.html

I'll be adding more articles to this this thread that are linked to this series.

[nineten]

Immigration, detention and human rights

Whether you're for or against immigration reform, some issues transcend those political borders. The NY Times' report on deaths in detention is one of them:

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/05/immigration-det.html

[nineten]

Editorial: Death by Detention (May 6, 2008) Re “Few Details on Immigrants Who Died in U.S. Custody” (front page, May 5):

Thank you for bringing to light the tragic deaths of immigrants in the custody of United States immigration officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/opinion/l09detain.html

[nineten]

WaPo To Run Explosive Series

on Immigrant Detention Reform...The upcoming series ...But instead of looking at terrorist ...the Post is now exploring the government's detention of undocumented immigrants, presumably by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.



System of Neglect

As Tighter Immigration Policies Strain Federal Agencies, The Detainees in Their Care Often Pay a Heavy Cost

by Dana Priest and Amy Goldstein | Washington Post Staff Writers
Page A1; May 11, 2008


Hidden Emergency: Yusif Osman's Story

Yusif Osman was a U.S. legal resident from Ghana and had been living in Los Angeles for five years. After a companion carrying false ID landed him in immigration detention, Osman was facing deportation on smuggling charges, an allegation he denied. While at an immigration detention center outside San Diego, he died suddenly. His story highlights the poor care some immigrants have received in the scores of immigration facilities across the United States. Watch » Near midnight on a California spring night, armed guards escorted Yusif Osman into an immigration prison ringed by concertina wire at the end of a winding, isolated road.

During the intake screening, a part-time nurse began a computerized medical file on Osman, a routine procedure for any person entering the vast prison network the government has built for foreign detainees across the country. But the nurse pushed a button and mistakenly closed file #077-987-986 and marked it "completed" -- even though it had no medical information in it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d1p1.html

[nineten]

Also see previous post for WaPo Series
Days 1-4

Articles/Slideshows/Photos/60 Minutes

Detention In America

60 Minutes And The Washington Post Report On Detainee Medical Care

Article/Videos/Photos

(CBS) Since 9/11 there have been a lot of changes in how the United States deals with immigrants. One of the biggest is the explosive growth of a system of immigrant detention centers that few Americans know anything about.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/09/60minutes/main4083279.shtml


SLIDESHOW: Careless Detention: Yong Harvill's Story

Yong Sun Harvill faces deportation to her native South Korea, a country she left more than 30 years ago. While her lawyers fight her immigration case, she is detained in Arizona, thousands of miles from her Florida home...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/05/11/GA2008051101541.html

[nineten]

10:00Medical Care of Detained Immigrants

Listen to audio

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/05/13.php

[nineten]

Coverage & Access | Washington Post Series Examines Errors in Psychiatric Diagnoses, Medications of Detained Immigrants
[May 13, 2008]

According to the Post, suicide is the most common cause of death in immigrant detention centers, and "suicide attempts seem to be on the rise."

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=52105

[nineten]

Lawmakers want better treatment for detainees

By EILEEN SULLIVAN – 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding more information from the Homeland Security Department about medical treatment provided to illegal immigrants detained in the U.S.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5haVi3MmR8ZkNZiAqzGMUmKi8PUqAD90LMOSG2