Private Prisons
Private Prisons have long been a "hot button issue" in American politics because they were always vultures feeding off our national body's leprous limb; prison culture. But now it has managed to become something even worse. ICE and Private Prisons are the infrastructure of the Trump Administration's crimes against humanity. Yet their leadership operates in near anonymity.
Americans were already the most imprisoned people in the world. With 2022 statistics showing that while America has only 5% of the world's total population (340 million), the citizenry make up 20% of the world's prison population (1.23 million), 8% of which are held in private prisons (~100k), 67,000 of which are there for immigration reasons. That was prior to the current humanitarian and constitutional crisis.
Critics (like this article) allege these institutions profiteer from suffering, ignore human rights, and undermine the goals of crime reduction. The institutions themselves claim to promote rehabilitation of inmates as their primary mission. However, their business model of housing ever increasing numbers of prisoners would seem to benefit from recidivism. An appearance supported by repeated studies showing private prison populations tend towards higher recidivism rates. Though preserving the health of prisoners for return visits does not seem to be a high priority. A 2024 report found that a majority of the deaths in private prisons were preventable. No institutions or individuals have, as of yet, been held accountable for those deaths.
ICE’s oversight process has failed to result in meaningful consequences for detention facilities, including those whose conditions have caused the greatest number of deaths.
In 2012, the market share for private prisons peeked at ~12%. Presidents Obama and Biden had both made incremental efforts during their terms to phase out federal use of private prisons, but ICE still managed to grow its share of the system during that same time. Trump's re-election signaled a financial windfall for the industry, before election day even dawned. He promised arrests and deportations, and the people who profited off that became very excited. Stock prices began to rise in October of 2024, and skyrocketed after the election.
As GEO Group Executive Chairman George Zoley said on an earnings call on November 7, “The GEO Group was built for this unique moment in our . . . country’s history and the opportunities that it will bring.” - Brennan Center for Justice
Now these same private prisons are being re-opened so that people seized off the streets by men in masks with guns and no warrants or identification can be rounded up like penned cattle. From there to be exiled to foreign penitentiaries without trial. The Supreme Court has proffered temporary injunctions to the foreign exile, but who knows if that will last or even be obeyed? Meanwhile the government responsible for their detention is negotiating trades, using the prisoners as bargaining chips. Which revisits two of the justifications for rebellion against King George listed in the Declaration:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: [sic]
So who is responsible for all of this? Clearly, Trump, his Cabinet officials, and advisors are responsible for the policies. But what of these tax funded, private facilities? Who runs these camps that concentrate the victims of this administration's final immigration solution in one location for exile, on our dime?
Stocks and Bondage
Among the larger private prison companies involved with ICE are the GEO Group and MTC. They are both publicly traded companies that have done exceptionally well on the stock market since the Trump's re-election. While shareholders technically own a company, it is extremely difficult to hold them responsible for that company's actions. However the Chairs, CEOs and Presidents are responsible for the decisions made, and should be held to account for their choices. Especially if they truly are aiding and abetting the abduction and trafficking of humans without any due process, and misusing tax dollars to do so?
MTC (Management and Training Corporation) is a Utah based company that describes itself as "Giving people hope, skills, and opportunities for a better life." According to their website, "MTC operates 16 Job Corps centers, 17 correctional facilities, 11 prison and detention medical departments, 3 community release centers, 14 detention centers, 19 treatment programs, and 2 outpatient behavioral health programs worldwide-" housing a total of 30,000 residents worldwide. The majority of these facilities appear to be in Texas, based on their map. Included among these Texas facilities is the El Valle Detention Center that was in the news recently because Venezuelan immigrants, and a few others, were shipped there from around the nation before being exiled to El Salvador without seeing a judge or lawyer. This includes the now famous Abrego Garcia. Though if you were to view their marketing, it would appear to be a pleasant vacation spot for the friendly immigrant just passing through.
MTC began as a private company founded by Robert Marquadt in 1991. Then his son Scott became CEO and President. Now Dan, the grandson, is President while Scott remains CEO. Jane Marquadt, is Vice-Chair and Robert's sister. So, while the shares may be public, it would still appear to be a family run business.
GEO Group is also a publicly traded company that has existed in one form or another since 1984. Based in Boca Raton, they have 54 facilities around the world, with over 71,000 beds. They were significant contributors to Trump and Desantis campaigns, and have been very excited about their financial future since the re-election. Founded by George Zoley who remains Chairman to this day though he has not been president for some time. In January the board hired a new CEO to handle their expected continued growth, J. David Donahue; a man with a long career of imprisoning Americans.
GEO describes their mission as "...to develop innovative public-private partnerships with government agencies around the globe that deliver high quality secure facility, community reentry, and electronic monitoring services while providing industry leading rehabilitation and community reintegration programs to the men and women entrusted to our care..." and their stated values include respecting human rights. Since 2019 they published an annual report on human rights and publish it online. It doesn't actually list any details of their human rights operation, but it does affirm a commitment to international human rights standards. Which would seem to contradict their record of repeated abuses and deprivations. A history that does not make them unique in an industry described as torturous.
Until a recent court order, the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana had been Mahmoud Khalil's prison. This is one of several GEO Group prisons in the state. He had been moved their from New Jersey, where he was arrested, because ICE hoped for a more favorable judge in that region. GEO group didn't concern itself with questions of ethics or legality, they just took payment and asked no questions. As a proper henchman does. The Supreme Court ruled on the 19th of April that the transport was an illegal act, and he would have to be returned to his home jurisdiction. At the time of writing this article, neither the GEO Group nor its leadership has faced any repercussions for receiving and detaining a person transported improperly and unwillingly across state lines. One should not expect there to be any such in the future, either.
Crime and Punishment?
These companies and individuals have made themselves indispensable to ICE's exile process, for their own profit, yet remain little known to the society whose ills they feed upon. But if tax dollars and/or resources are being utilized in a manner congress did not allocate, or that contradicts the orders of a federal judge, or that directly violates the law, they should not be allowed to hide behind a corporate shield. If the facility for incarcerating criminals can itself be a criminal operation, then what are we even doing?
It is said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. Then we should expose this infection to daylight. Their names should be made infamous: the Marquadts, Zoley, and Donahue, as well as Noem and Lyons. If you object to people being detained and exiled without probable cause, or writs of habeas corpus, or warrants, or trials, these are the people facilitating the logistics of those violations of our most basic concepts of jurisprudence and justice. Don't allow them do it in secret. ICE and Private Prisons are the network of this crime against humanity. They aren't good guys who fail to act, or collaborators trying to survive. These companies, meaning the people who run them, are actively and purposefully soliciting, operating, and profiting from America's crimes against humanity. Learn their names.