With Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, the private prison industry will have a direct line to President Trump.
By Carl Takei and Katie Egan
Donald Trump’s victory has been nothing but good news for the private prison industry.
The day after the election, shares of the two biggest private prison corporations — Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group — jumped 43 and 21 percent, respectively. And share prices continue to soar. Since Election Day, CCA and GEO’s stock value has increased by 75 and 54 percent.
Investors have good reason to believe that Trump will rely heavily on private prison companies. When asked how he planned to reform the country’s prison system during a town hall in March, Trump stated: “I do think we can do a lot of privatizations, and private prisons. It seems to work a lot better.”
Additionally, Trump’s hardline stance on immigration practically guarantees an increased need for detention facilities, a gap that private prison companies are more than eager to fill. If Congress fully funds Trump’s proposal to round up and deport 2 to 3 million immigrants in the first year of his presidency, the immigration detention population will more than quadruple — requiring the construction of scores of new jails for immigrants.
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