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The CEO of<\/span> the private prison firm CoreCivic told investors on a Thursday call that his company has a value proposition for the federal government: American prison profiteers are less likely to draw legal challenges than foreign alternatives \u2014 an apparent reference to the infamous El Salvador prison housing immigrants who were illegally deported from the U.S.<\/p>\n CoreCivic is among the biggest players in the immigration detention business \u2014\u00a0and they\u2019re looking to capitalize on contracts for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Even as the companies celebrated profit opportunities on earnings calls this week, however, pushback is building in communities tapped to host their lockups.<\/p>\n Newark, New Jersey\u2019s mayor rallied protesters outside a newly reactivated facility<\/a> in his city. Leavenworth, Kansas, sued <\/a>CoreCivic for reopening a facility there. Leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area are girding themselves for a fight<\/a> against the use of an Air Force base for deportation. And two House representatives from Florida recently criticized<\/a> conditions in ICE facilities in their state.<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s aggressive deportation push has spurred an increase in immigration detention. ICE facilities throughout the country are at or over capacity, and the federal government is making desperate attempts to expand its detention network. According to federal contracting documents, the agency wants to spend billions more<\/a> for immigration detention.<\/p>\n The pushback is growing \u2014 but so is the Trump administration\u2019s determination to feed the deportation pipeline. A tally by The Intercept shows that, since Trump took office, at least 10 facilities owned or operated by the two largest private prison companies \u2014 CoreCivic and GEO Group \u2014 have had their contracts created, renewed, or modified to detain immigrants. Other private prison companies and federal contractors have signed contracts for further immigration detention, including an expansion<\/a> of tent detention facilities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThese companies are working with ICE to spend money that they haven\u2019t even been given yet.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n On an earnings call Wednesday, GEO Group CEO J. David Donahue sounded a cautious but optimistic note about what is to come under Trump. He said the ongoing budget reconciliation discussions in Congress were a \u201ckey element\u201d in how much and how fast ICE can build up its privately run detention capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line right now is that private prison companies are waiting with bated breath for Congress to give ICE $45 billion through the reconciliation process,\u201d said Setareh Ghandehari, the advocacy director at Detention Watch Network. \u201cIt\u2019s horrific and we\u2019ve been sounding the alarm about this for months \u2014 but right now that alarm is blaring and it\u2019s clear how closely these companies are working with ICE to spend money that they haven\u2019t even been given yet.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Outside of detention, the company hopes to bulk up the number of people covered by an electronic surveillance contract called the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program from a current number of 185,000 to \u201cmillions if called upon,\u201d Donahue said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a unique moment in our company\u2019s history,\u201d he said, \u201cand we believe we are well-positioned to meet this unprecedented opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n On a quarterly earnings call<\/a> Thursday, CoreCivic executives touted their steps to reopen two separate facilities: one in California City, California, and a facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. What they did not mention was the growing opposition from local officials in Leavenworth.<\/p>\n In late March, the city of Leavenworth filed a lawsuit against CoreCivic to try to prevent its use of one of their facilities to detain immigrants. Despite Leavenworth being surrounded by penitentiaries, the conservative city is concerned about the detention of immigrants at the Midwest Regional Reception Center.<\/p>\n For nearly 30 years, CoreCivic operated the facility, primarily holding pre-trial detainees in the custody of U.S. Marshals. Conditions were so bad that a federal judge called it \u201can absolute hell hole.\u201d The facility was shuttered in 2021 by the Biden administration when it curtailed the federal government\u2019s use <\/a>of private prisons.<\/p>\n Under the Trump administration, ICE\u2019s rush to expand detention capacity led to a \u201cletter agreement\u201d with CoreCivic, authorizing the private prison company to begin revamping the Leavenworth facility so they could quickly begin detaining immigrants. This agreement is not a formal contract but covers a six-month period while CoreCivic works to \u201cnegotiate and execute a long-term contract,\u201d the company said in a document distributed to shareholders.<\/p>\n\u201cUnprecedented Opportunity\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cReady to Brawl\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n