Interstate 35 runs down through Texas like a stone version of the lower Colorado River. From north to south, the first major metropolis it runs through is ruby red — or urban blue -- Dallas-Ft. Worth, then through redneck country 200 miles or so further down before drifting into progressive Austin and San Antonio, and ending another 150 plus miles to the south in a nice border town called Laredo. Somewhere in the San Antonio region, ICE plans to build a new detention center—and word is it will be operated by a for-profit prison outfit:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to open another detention center in South Texas for people apprehended entering the country illegally. The Austin American-Statesman reports the agency this month asked private companies to submit preliminary proposals for a new facility along the Interstate 35 corridor housing adult detainees. There are already a number of such detention centers operating south of San Antonio. The request for proposals indicates ICE is open to new construction or the renovation of an existing facility. It would house about 1,000 beds. ICE says it can't comment on pending contracts.
The details such as they are appeared in the traditional paper version of the Austin American-Statesman on Monday, Oct 16, 2017. The article speculated the company in question was most likely to be one of the big two: either the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) or the GEO Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Securities. But the Austin newspaper also stated that ICE has not returned their calls asking for confirmation or more information. The article has not yet appeared in the Statesman online.
Update Sat 9:43 AM: Looks like the Statesmen has an article posted online now — Steven
Civil rights advocates (and anyone else with half a brain) consider for-profit prisons a terrible idea, for a number of good reasons. This is an industry that profits most when more people are detained or convicted, and like any other business, it’s one that further maximizes profit in part by cutting expenses in the form of labor costs, accommodations, and other inmate care to the absolute bare minimum. It’s bad enough when the detainees or convicts are U.S. citizens with inalienable rights; the mind reels at what a for-profit prison might get away with when detaining undocumented immigrants who have little in the way of legal protection—especially in the Trump era.