Fighting The Private Immigrant Detention Industry

Greetings.

Tax time is near and your federal tax dollars are funding a quickly expanding private prison empire in the U.S., with GEO Group and Core Civic leading the way. Yes, the two companies are well known for warehousing immigrants--and even U.S. citizens--who masked federal agents are indiscriminately whisking off the streets and from workplaces across America without due process.

And believe me, the private prisons these companies operate truly practice a form of cruel and unusual punishment for those inside. Indeed, 10 detainees have died since Trump took office in detention centers run by the two companies under sweetheart deals with the Department of Homeland Security. The most recent was Ismael Ayala Uribe, who died of cardiac arrest at age 39 while in detention at GEO Group’s Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the Mojave Desert. Uribe came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 4 years old and had been granted DACA status until it was revoked after he was convicted of driving under the influence.  He had complained of a cough, fever, and shaking for almost two weeks prior to his death, but was offered only Tylenol and cursory medical treatment in the detention center.

Uribe’s death follows numerous reports of overcrowding, lack of access to clean water, sanitation facilities, clean clothes, and most importantly access to communications with lawyers and family members. Indeed, one immigration attorney explained that he has to find people who’ve been detained without due process based on reports that they are missing or have been apprehended from family, friends, coworkers, or community patrol groups. Rarely can detainees call an attorney.

So just who and what is the GEO Group, which operates the Adelanto facility where Uribe died.

The answer is that the company is the largest operator of private prisons and various correctional facilities and programs in the U.S., with $2.4 billion in revenue in 2024. It operates 50 detention centers in the U.S. and gets 62 percent of its revenue from Uncle Sam. Moreover, it’s now on a rapid growth trajectory with $45 billion authorized for additional immigration detention capacity under Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Indeed, GEO Group quickly got lucrative contracts to detain immigrants under a noncompetitive no-bid contract after the bill was passed last year.

Surprise, surprise. In this pay-to-play MAGA world, the contracts came after Florida-based GEO Group, just a hop skip and a jump from Mar Lago, struck up a cozy relationship with Trump and Republican lawmakers by giving them $4,023,200 in campaign contributions in 2024.

Meanwhile, in California GEO Group has been largely absent from the political contribution scene since the state ended private prison contracts with the company under Trump 1.0. At that time, it tried to also prevent GEO Group from running detention centers for the federal government, but California did not prevail in a long and complicated court battle with the company. Here in California, it’s worth noting that GEO Group still runs “re-entry centers” for those released from state prisons and provides parole and probation services, including tracking people using ankle bracelets and other monitoring devices that it manufactures. Indeed, some complain that conditions in GEO Group re-entry centers aren’t much better than in its detention centers. In San Francisco, for instance, a County Supervisor called for an investigation after Melvin Bulauan, 44, was found dead a block from a halfway house Geo Group operates in the city’s Tenderloin District.

So now that you’re thoroughly depressed about where your hard-earned tax money is going, think about this: The antidote for discouragement is to take action. You can empower yourself by:

· Joining the National Day Laborer’s Organizing Network Saturday, March 14, for a caravan to GEO Group’s Adelanto center for a concert and to hear from families of detainees, among others. We’ll gather at noon to decorate cars and organize carpools in front of the Pasadena Community Job Center, 500 N. Lake Ave., for a 1 p.m. departure to Adelanto. The concert and program will begin at 4 p.m. and we’ll leave in time to be back by 9 p.m.

· Donating to NDLON, CHIRLA, and other groups so they can continue to provide legal representation and support for immigrants and their families.

 · Joining a community defense group to document ICE raids and apprehensions and provide the documentation to immigrant defense attorneys. You can get started with online training by DSA-LA. Check the calendar for the next training session.

 · Donating food to NDLON or Northeast Los Angeles Food Distribution for immigrants who’ve lost income or are reluctant to go out in public due to the ICE raids. You can also help pack and distribute food.

 · Calling and writing to your Congressional representatives asking them to block funding for ICE and expanding detention centers and to investigate and publicize conditions at private detention centers, like those run by GEO Group.

Time to do good, by getting busy.