Who has contributed in excess of $10 million in the last 16 years to politicians and spent almost $25 million to lobby for their interests? You may be surprised. They are GEO and Corrections Corporation of America, the two major for-profit prison companies in our country. Combined, private prison companies bring in $3.3 billion a year, all while the number of people in our prisons doubled in only ten years (2000-1010).
Contracts with such companies require that the government keep their prisons at least 90% full…some have a 100% provision. If not, taxpayers must pay for any empty beds. They own 9 out of the 10 immigrant detention centers and profit greatly from a Congressional mandate (that they lobbied for) that a minimum of 34,000 immigrants be detained daily (and the number is rising, even as the number of undocumented aliens has leveled off).
For more details, view this PBS video: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/video.html
