Infographic: Detention Means Big Money for For-Profit Prisons

Nearly two-thirds of all immigrant detainees are held by the Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, and the Geo Group Inc.

Immigration

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Part of a Series

Congress’ Costly Detention Quota

Congress’ Costly Detention Quota

A congressional mandate requires that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, maintain bed space to detain 34,000 immigrants per day at an annual cost of more than $2 billion. This arbitrary number is unrelated to the agency’s actual bed-space needs, wasting taxpayer dollars and placing immigrants at risk of abuse and mistreatment in detention facilities. The detention bed quota increases revenue for for-profit prisons.

Sharita Gruberg is a Policy Analyst for LGBT Progress at the Center for American Progress.

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