CoreCivic Secures $300 Million in New Contracts with ICE

CoreCivic, a leading private prison operator, has announced three new contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that are expected to generate nearly $300 million. This development will enhance the Trump administration’s capacity to detain immigrants across the United States. The announcement marks a significant expansion of detention facilities, driven by increased federal funding from a $45 billion budget allocated to the agency as part of a tax cut and spending package.

The contracts, which include facilities in California, Kansas, and Oklahoma, align with ICE’s strategy to double its detention capacity to accommodate over 100,000 individuals. This plan was initially reported by The Washington Post in August. Once fully operational, the new facilities are projected to add more than 5,700 detention beds by 2026.

Eunice Cho, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project, expressed concerns about the implications of this rapid expansion. “The number of people who are being held in detention increases on almost a daily basis,” she noted. As of September 21, 2023, nearly 60,000 individuals were in ICE detention, with a striking 72% lacking criminal convictions, according to data from TRAC Immigration, a nonprofit research organization at Syracuse University.

CoreCivic’s CEO, Damon Hininger, indicated that the company anticipates further contracting opportunities to meet ICE’s needs. “Looking forward, we anticipate additional contracting activity that will help satisfy ICE’s growing needs,” he stated in a news release on September 29. These contracts come amid ongoing scrutiny from immigrant advocacy groups regarding conditions in detention centers.

One of the facilities, the California City Correctional Facility in Kern County, began housing detainees on August 27. Reports from the Los Angeles Times and The Guardian highlighted protests by detainees over inadequate medical care, malfunctioning toilets, and limited access to outdoor spaces. Bruno Huizar, supervising policy manager for the California Immigrant Policy Center, raised alarms about the conditions at this facility. “If the federal government and ICE continue to rapidly expand detention, it’s going to be dangerous,” he stated. “People are going to be facing life-threatening conditions where they have little to no access to food, water, and basic hygiene.”

In response to the allegations, both CoreCivic and ICE denied claims of detainee mistreatment. Brian Todd, CoreCivic’s manager of public affairs, stated, “We have seen no evidence to support them and have no reason to believe they are credible.” An ICE spokesperson dismissed the reports of hunger strikes as “inaccurate” and characterized claims of human rights abuses as “recycled talking points from activist groups.”

The timeline for detainee arrivals at the Leavenworth, Kansas, facility remains uncertain due to ongoing legal disputes between the city and CoreCivic. This center is slated to hold 1,033 detainees and is projected to generate $60 million annually for the company. The Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, which has been inactive since 2010, is expected to yield an estimated $100 million once it becomes operational in 2026.

As the detainee population grows, the pressure on legal support networks for immigrants is also expected to increase. Cho underscored the financial motivations behind the expansion of private prisons, stating, “There’s a lot of money to be made.” The contracts with the federal government guarantee a fixed monthly payment along with incremental payments based on the number of detainees housed.

This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, which includes the Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press, and Stocktonia.