The US Department of Homeland Security is to study whether to continue using detention centers that are privately run. Such centers have recently been called unsafe for immigrants by the Justice Department. The announcement, made yesterday, resulted in falling shares for private prison operators.
Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of the DHS, says he has given his advisory council directions to evaluate whether the agency should stop contracting with private prison operators. The deadline for the recommendation is November 30. Immigrant advocates claim that the companies have withheld proper medical and mental health care from immigrants held in detention, to boost their profits. Detention facilities run by The GEO Group and the Corrections Corps of America are currently used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.
Members of Congress have joined immigrant advocates in pressurizing the Department to end their contracts with the private prison firms, since the announcement on 18 August that the Justice Department would be doing that. The Justice Department’s decision was prompted by a report from an inspector general, which slammed the effectiveness and safety of private prisons.
The American Lawyers Association advocacy director, Greg Chen, says that President Barack Obama should ensure that phasing out of privately run prisons is immediately extended to Department of Homeland Security operations, rather than wait for the committee’s review and report.