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August 30, 2016

Following DOJ Decision, DHS to Review Private Prison Contracts
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In the United States, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh
Johnson has ordered DHS review its contracts with for-profit prison
companies. This comes after the Justice Department told the Bureau of
Prisons to end its use of private prisons earlier this month. DHS
oversees a network of immigrant detention centers. About 34,000
immigrants are currently being held in for-profit detention centers.
Human rights activists and some lawmakers celebrated the announcement.
Arizona Congressmember Raśl Grijalva said, "This step is a tacit
admission that the corporations who profit by locking up desperate
adults and children undermine our decency as a nation." As with the
Justice Department's announcement two weeks ago, the DHS move caused the
plunge of stocks for GEO Group and Corrections Corporations of America,
two of the largest for-profit prison operators.


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