President Biden signed an executive order ending the renewals of private prison contracts with the Department of Justice. Then, Trump reversed the order. This was not unexpected, but it has critical implications for our future.
Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, lobbied for GEO Group, the country’s largest corporation investing in private prisons. GEO spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump's re-election, but not without expecting something in return.
In the 80s, the federal Bureau of Prisons “needed” private prisons for increasing populations of undocumented and disabled people. Today, GEO plans on making $400 million a year by filling empty beds at prisons, especially with immigrants. Trump’s plans to expand immigrant detention aren’t a coincidence. Neither are GEO’s profits from mental health facilities amid growing institutional attacks on human rights. For example, the number of crisis service calls from members of the LGBTQ+ community spiked with Trump’s inauguration.
Under Biden’s order, out of 152,000 people incarcerated federally, 14,000 in private facilities were transferred elsewhere. Now, how many more will there be?
If there are empty beds or newly built prisons, the goal is to do everything possible to fill them. Now more than ever, it’s important to understand that locking up as many people as possible has more to do with profits and exploitation than with making our communities safer.