Who's Holding Immigrants in Florida? Private Vendors, Feds and County Sheriffs, Too
Miami Herald, July 7, 2018 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. No one noticed.
Five months ago, the federal government sent an advisory to Gov. Rick Scott and Florida members of Congress: It was reopening a shelter for "unaccompanied alien children" 35 miles south of Miami.
"There is no set date for UACs to arrive at the facility," a letter read, pledging "accountability and transparency for program operations."
The Homestead shelter, run by a private Florida contractor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has become a flashpoint in an uproar over President Donald Trump's immigration policy. Hundreds of migrant children sent there went unnoticed until they were joined by dozens more torn from their parents at the border in recent weeks.
The outcry over child separation has revealed a disturbing bigger picture. America's immigration enforcement system is a complex patchwork involving multiple federal agencies, local sheriffs, nonprofits and, increasingly, politically influential corporations like Florida-based GEO Group.
The system exists in a bureaucratic netherworld. Neither Scott's office nor the Department of Children and Families provided a complete list of federal immigration facilities in Florida, because they said the immigrants are not in the state system.
Yet getting federal officials to provide details about the system is difficult and made more so by outsourcing. Most requests for information must go through a formal process that takes months or even years.
Florida's key role in the national detention system wasn't publicly known until news broke in mid-June that more than 1,000 children were housed in a dormlike former job training center in Homestead, including at least 70 kids who were taken from their families.
Politicians, mainly Democrats, rushed to the shelters and demanded action. Others, including the Republican governor, said they opposed child separation but have not taken much action, seeming to underscore the treacherous politics of immigration in an election year.
"It's a controversial and complicated issue," said Frank Sharry, executive director of immigration reform group America's Voice. "We're a country that is at war with itself over how we reconcile being a nation of immigrants and nation of laws. The 'keep 'em out, let them in' fight results in conflicting mandates and a lack of coherence."
Part of the challenge in understanding the system is how scattered it has become, with two different tracks for children and adults and various layers to each...continued..
Read More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/whos-holding-immigrants-in-florida-private-vendors-feds-and-county-sheriffs-too/ar-AAzsNE6
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)What's Going On At GEO?
May 22, 2017 3:20 PMGEO
https://www.google.com/amp/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4075410-going-geo
Article from May 2017
SNIP
GEO stock is up nearly 200% from its lows in August 2016, why is this?
Companies that are poised to benefit from policies in Washington can be very risky.
Investors should take gains in GEO before the market regains rationality.
Investors, including Elliot Capital Management and Greenlight capital, seem to agree on one thing specifically; the Trump Administration will be a boon for private prisons.
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Its all about keeping investors happy.
Republicans don't give a shit about people.
~Tom Perez
appalachiablue
(41,127 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)There are a few others. Also.
CORE CIVIC, is the other name I read about on twitter.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-immigrant-detention-plans-benefit-these-companies-1530523800
From July 2018
Immigrant-Detention Plans Benefit Private Prison Operators
CoreCivic, Geo Group, both Trump campaign contributors, have become more reliant on ICE revenue in recent years
The Trump administrations new push for more federal detention facilities for immigrants awaiting asylum hearings or deportation has brightened the outlook for the countrys two largest private prison operators.
Tennessee-based CoreCivic Inc. and Florida-based Geo Group had already been helped by higher federal spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Now, the Trump administration is seeking $2.8 billion in the 2019 budget year to increase the number of beds in immigration detention centers to 52,00049,500 adult and 2,500 family bedsfrom about 40,000 now, a spokeswoman said.
Shares in both companies rose last month after ICE issued a notice that it may seek 15,000 new beds for families.
An ICE official said it made the request for information on potential facilities and providers in anticipation of the potential need to house a large number of family units after Mr. Trump ended his policy of separating children at the southern border.
So far this year, Geos shares are up 14%, while CoreCivics have risen 4.8%, according to FactSet.
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