U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, led a tour this week of their new immigrant detention center in Texas. The detention center, which will be managed by Florida-based private prison industry corporation The GEO Group, has raised concerns from immigrant advocates.
This morning, the Huffington Post reported that a private prison company had approached 48 states — of which Florida is one — to trade cash in exchange for contracts to run state prisons.
A small group of corrections workers came together at the capitol today to voice their fears about a possible vote on a bill that would privatize prisons in some parts of the state. Workers who are poised to have the prisons they work for privatized say they are concerned they will either lose their jobs or face pay cuts and understaffing.
The National Institute on Money in State Politics released a report yesterday that highlights the money behind the state’s renewed plans to privatize state prisons.
State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, says that Florida legislators are “rushing” their prison privatization plans so that “private prison companies can add to their profits.”
Three protesters who took part in a national day of action to call on participants of the 2012 Global Alternative Investments Management conference to divest from private prisons were arrested Tuesday.
Three protesters from the Occupy movements of Palm Beach and Miami were arrested Monday evening after they blocked the Camino Real bridge in Boca Raton to protest the 2012 GAIM conference, a major investor industry event.
The Southwest Ranches Town Counil announced Thursday night that a meeting between Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Corrections Corporation of America and Broward County residents who oppose a proposed immigrant detention center will be held on Nov. 5.
Private prison companies lost one chance for a big profit last week when one of the largest known privatization campaigns in the country was blocked by a Florida judge for being unconstitutional. But private prison players like The GEO Group and the Corrections Corporation of America, which would have won big from privatization, and the tactics they use to ensure they stay in good graces with lawmakers have remained in the shadows even as the future of the legislation remains in question.
The GEO Group Inc., a Boca Raton-based private prison firm, has scrapped its state-level political action committee after an audit by the Florida Department of State found it was taking in contributions that exceeded state limits.
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