Prisons are problematic in any case, but private prisons are even more so. Injecting the profit motive into an already askew criminal justice system creates an incentive for incarceration and pushes that system ever further away from actual justice. Public policy is now leading to the proliferation of private detention centers, where the vast majority of detainees are held. And, of course, we’re also concerned about the ways detention centers, whether public or private, are being deployed with insufficient concern for due process.  

Private prisons and detention centers have been among the concerns of In the Public Interest for a decade and a half, during which time we’ve researched their cost, the banks that financed the companies during the first Trump administration, and how they lead to recidivism, among other studies. 

We regularly cover private prisons and detention centers in our weekly Privatization Report, In the Public Interest’s other weekly newsletter. The Report is a roundup of the previous week’s media reports related to the issues we cover. While it’s a pretty robust email–it averages about 30 items per newsletter–they are divided into categories and labeled by state–making for an easy eye scan.

We’re including here in this newsletter some of the items related to private prisons and detention centers from a couple of recent Privatization Reports: 

National: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has filed a federal lawsuit “seeking answers as to why the Trump administration funneled billions in taxpayer dollars to private prison executives for expansion of immigration detention while at the same time quietly dismantling a cheaper, community-based national program that returned a 100% appearance rate in immigration court without detention. The lawsuit follows the federal government’s refusal to provide public records in response to RFK Human Rights’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting evaluation data of the Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP).” [Read the complaint]

 See also Bianca Tylek and Worth Rises’ piece in Truthout discussing their recently released book, The Prison Industry: How it Works and Who Profits. “The private prison model does not differ much from the corrections system to the immigration detention system. Business is still driven by more bodies, longer stays, and low costs. So, much like it does in the corrections system, the private prison industry pushes for harsh immigration policies intended to drive up immigration detention. And private immigration detention centers suffer from many of the same problems as private prisons and jails, but the people held in them have even fewer rights and thus, at times, can suffer even more abuse.”

 Also, check out The Majority Report’s interview with Whitney Curry Wimbish, author of the recent American Prospect article, “Private Prisons Cash In on Trump’s Mass Deportations.” [Audio, at 44:00]

 National/California: The private, for-profit GEO Group’s Adelanto facility, which it owns and operates, is the subject of a new report: “They Treat Us Like Dogs in Cages” Inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center: A Report by Disability Rights California. “Overall, DRC found serious issues including: (1) inadequate access to medical treatment, such as life-saving medication and wound care, and exposure to widespread respiratory illnesses; (2) inadequate access to food and water, including extreme delays in meal distribution, provision of food that results in significant health issues, and a shortage of drinking water; (3) inadequate access to clean clothes, with many remaining in soiled clothing for long periods of time; and (4) minimal opportunities to contact family. Further intensifying these issues, many of the people DRC interviewed had never experienced incarceration and felt overwhelmed and terrified by their confinement in a locked, jail-like facility.”

 On August 14, at a downtown Los Angeles press conference, the group and others pushed for change.

 Indiana: Indiana is shaping up to be an ICE detention hub, the Indianapolis Star reports. “Indiana is in line to play an increasingly pivotal role in President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations, with multiple locations across the state, including the Miami Correctional Facility, poised to house thousands of undocumented immigrants. (…) ‘They’re just setting the stage,’ [Jesse Franzblau, associate director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center] said, ‘for really dramatic rights abuses against people by placing them in a prison system.’ Miami Correctional, which federal officials unabashedly dubbed the ‘Speedway Slammer,’ will house up to 1,000 undocumented immigrants as the Trump administration continues to ramp up arrests and expand detention spaces nationwide.”

 Oklahoma/National: Oklahoma Watch’s Keaton Ross reports that CoreCivic has advertised jobs at vacant prisons in Watonga and Sayre. “As federal spending on immigrant enforcement and detention soars, a private prison company is advertising detention officer positions at vacant prisons in Watonga and Sayre. Tennessee-based CoreCivic, whose stock has risen 52% since President Donald Trump’s victory last November, is offering $27 per hour to detention officer recruits as it negotiates contracts with the federal government to reopen the idle facilities. That’s $5.50 per hour more than what Oklahoma pays its entry-level correctional officers.”

National: “Welcome to Folkston, Georgia: Trump’s expanding detention hub,” the Financial Times reports. “For decades, the city of Folkston seemed to be forgotten by history. Now it is about to acquire nationwide fame—as home to the largest immigration detention center in the US. Plans are afoot to expand an existing facility in the city for the non-citizens swept up in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. But they are proving highly divisive in a community desperate for an economic boost yet fearful of becoming a hub in America’s burgeoning detention and deportation economy.”

National: AInvest reports that “the GEO Group anticipates significant revenue growth from new ICE facility activations, with projected annual revenues of over $240 million and margins of up to 30%. Analysts forecast a notable upside, with a high price target of $50.00, while GF Value forecasts suggest a potential downside of 45.76%. Investors should consider both perspectives before making investment decisions. (…) The company’s utilization of current ICE contracts increased from approximately 15,000 beds to 20,000 beds at 21 facilities, the highest level of ICE utilization in its history. Additionally, GEO is in active discussions for the potential activation of 5,900 idle beds, which could add up to $310 million in annualized revenue if fully utilized.”O’Dwyer’s, the flagship journal of the PR industry, says, “What a godsend Trump has been for GEO.”

National: Cashing in. CoreCivic’s Second Quarter 2025 financial results:

•     Total revenue of $538.2 million, up 9.8% from the prior year quarter
•     Net income of $38.5 million, up 103.4% from the prior year quarter
•     Diluted earnings per share of $0.35, up 105.9% from the prior year quarter
•     Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.36, up 80.0% from the prior year quarter
•     Normalized FFO per diluted share of $0.59, up 40.5% from the prior year quarter
•     Adjusted EBITDA of $103.3 million, up 23.2% from the prior year quarter
•     Repurchased 2.0 million shares of our common stock at an aggregate cost of $43.2 million.