Comments on: Privatized Prisons for Immigrants: The Expansion Continues

By: Mitchell G.

Mitchell G. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:31:48 +0000

There are literally tens of thousands of illegal immigrants being held because, although they may have a green card visa in good standing, they were arrested for not having their papers on them. If you are a formerly arrested immigrant who is now living a law abiding life, and you get stopped for some reason and do not have your paperwork, you can be sent back to prison! I am sorry, but lacking physical documentation should not cost you your freedom!!

By: » Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, GEO Group Indicted In South Texas - By ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:51:29 +0000

[...] Private prisons are changing the face of American incarceration. Prison profiteers tend to exploit the economic situation an impoverished county is in. One of the most widely-shared assumptions about prisons in the United States is that they provide an economic boost to the communities in which they are located. This is why local public officials adopt a “yes, in my backyard” approach to prison; banking on the hopes it will provide additional jobs in their communities. The only problem: the economic development argument turns out to be wrong. The true victims are the county residents and the undocumented immigrants who are housed in Tent City. [...]

By: XicanoPwr

XicanoPwr — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:29:05 +0000

Hi barba de chiva. ¡Bienvendidos! Thanks for your input. You are correct I did leave that element out on purpose. I do plan to address later on, however, like you said, it is difficult trying to explain it in terms where people will not easily dismiss it.

I will check out Phronesisaical

By: barba de chiva

barba de chiva — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:58:42 +0000

Took me a while to get here — I just arrived via Immigration Orange — but this is an excellent, spot-on analysis of what’s going on in prison construction and privatization. Emerald runs a facility in my community. We fought its construction for a long time, got embroiled in local and federal lawsuits over it, and we’re now watching it flounder. They house anywhere from 200-500 migrant detainees all the time. Recent federal “streamlining,” which means that folks who would have been deported last year are now being sentenced for the crime of crossing the border, means that private detention centers like this are profiting.

One element you leave out of the discussion — I don’t blame you, as the whole issue is complex enough to make you feel like a conspiracy theorist for just trying to get people to see it clearly — is the proliferation of municipally-built and privately-operated facilities that have become popular in the last ten years. Private interests beyond the scope of prison companies themselves — lawyers, bond counsel, bond issuers, and investors — all wind up having a stake in building these things and getting (mostly rural) communities to foot the bill for “economic development.”

Have a look, if you have a chance, at the website of South Texans Opposing Private Prisons (http://www.stoppcoalition.org/). We cover much of the same ground as you, but the “Considering a Private Jail” packet (it’s in .pdf) details some of this specifically.

Anyway. This is great work. Visit Phronesisaical sometime . . .

By: a4L

a4L — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:25:09 +0000

there is a story about a security guard raping a female prisoner on the T.Don Hutto blog..

http://tdonhutto.blogspot.com/

By: XicanoPwr

XicanoPwr — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:53:52 +0000

I guess the real question that should be asked is why this sudden urge to build this encampment site. It does make you wonder if the US is planning more dirty wars in Latin America and encampment site will be used to house all the asylum seekers so we won't know what is actually taking place down there. Lets not forget, we did invade Haiti too ago. Something tells me we're not planning to leave any time soon either.

By: yave begnet

yave begnet — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:20:30 +0000

Great post. The thought of importing Australia’s approach of removing immigrants from the legal system just as the approach is being abandoned there is terrifying. It would essentially be an expansion of Guantanamo to asylum-seekers–so much for human rights in America. “Persons,” regardless of citizenship, are covered by the due process rights outlined in the Constitution–holding immigrants outside of the U.S. out of reach of the federal appeals courts as we’ve done with “enemy combatants” would be another instance of this government subverting the Constitution as Congress sits on its hands and the courts keep quiet on any issues the government slaps with the national security label. I think you’re right that these are issues where there’s not much daylight between Democrats and Republicans–neither party can be trusted to do the right thing, at least based on their actions so far.