ICE Buys Private Detention Centers With $45 Billion as It Moves to Dodge State Oversight
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 22
ICE Buys Private Detention Centers With $45 Billion as It Moves to Dodge State Oversight
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 22
Summary
$45 billion in congressional detention funding is helping ICE buy privately owned immigrant detention centers and rewrite contracts to say stricter state and local laws do not apply.
The strategy comes amid complaints over unsafe and unsanitary conditions and after federal civil-rights and safety oversight was weakened, making state inspections and lawsuits more important.
GEO Group told shareholders federal ownership could protect facilities from litigation, and ICE is considering buying more than 10 sites while seeking 5,500 beds in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington.
CoreCivic already sold four centers to ICE for $2.2 billion, including two in California, as the agency pushes toward a 100,000-bed goal and remains about 30,000 beds short.
Courts have split on the tactic: a Washington judge said GEO's contract cannot preempt state inspections, while a Colorado judge temporarily blocked enforcement of unannounced inspection rules until Oct. 15.