Bernie Sanders wants private companies out of the immigration detention business

A protestor climbed a light pole outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on Monday and hung and unfurled a sign reading "You are not alone" in Spanish to the detainees inside. (Photo by Angelica Chazaro)
A protestor climbed a light pole outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on Monday and hung and unfurled a sign reading “You are not alone” in Spanish to the detainees inside. (Photo by Angelica Chazaro)

At a Thursday morning press conference last week presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders revealed an ambitious plan to scale back the private prison industry. Sanders’ bill, the Justice is Not for Sale Act, would give federal, state and local governments two years to exit their contracts with private prison companies.

“We have got to end the private prison racket in America,” said Sanders.

The new bill draws heavily from a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington earlier this year — the Accountability in Immigration Detention Act — to address issues at the Northwest Detention Center. Located on the tide-flats in Tacoma, the 1,575 bed detention center has been the site of many protests and direct actions since it opened a decade ago. Congressman Smith toured the facility in 2014 after a group of detainees went on hunger strike for almost two months, drawing the attention of the media and elected officials.

Sanders’ bill would also do away with the controversial “bed-quota,” which requires that Immigration and Customs Enforcement keep 34,000 detention beds available at all times — and pay for those beds.

“Bed minimums have been a travesty to justice and to the immigrant population,” said Brent Wilkes, the League of United Latin American Citizens National Executive Director. Activists worry that since the government is paying for the beds, there’s an incentive to keep them occupied.

The number of immigrant detainees held in privately run detention centers has been increasing in recent years — last year 62 percent of ICE detainees were held in private facilities. That’s up from 49 percent in 2009, according to a report from Grassroots Leadership.

Sanders says if ICE could make better use of alternatives to detention — things like electronic home monitoring — the savings would be staggering: as much as $5 million a day; $1.4 billion per year. It costs an average of $159 to keep a detainee in custody each day.

Sanders isn’t just upset about the companies that run private prisons, either. He would like to see all “profit motives” taken out of the incarceration equation. Sanders says he plans to invoke the powers of the Federal Communications Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and require that the agencies put an end to the notoriously bloated prices associated with banking and phone calls behind bars.

“It is outrageous that a fifteen-minute phone call could cost upwards of $12, or that inmates are charged any number of service fees to access their own money upon release,” writes Sanders in a fact sheet accompanying the bill.

Speaking in support of Sanders’ bill, Congressman Smith spoke of the deplorable conditions at some detention centers and the need for more oversight.

“There’s no legislative standards for how these people are treated,” said Smith. “We need to set standards for the conditions in these facilities.”

Smith’s bill to reform immigration detention didn’t make it to a vote in the House last year. That may not bode well for Sander’s bill going forward in the Senate. The Christian Science Monitor reports that bipartisan support for prison reform is building steam, so there may yet be hope. But what about when it comes to immigration detention?

Sanders’ announcement came just hours after last Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate, where aspiring-candidates proposed building one — possibly two — fences along the southern border and rounding up and kicking out the 11 million-or-so people who are in the country illegally. Sanders was live tweeting the debate but didn’t address the draconian immigration policy proposals.

“We’re tired of companies profiting from our community,” says National Hispanic Leadership Agenda Executive Director Hector Sanchez. “We are tired of being under attack from the prison business; we say no to more prison companies, end privatization of correction industry.”

Citizens gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in the dawn hours to blockade busses with deportees from leaving. (Photo by Angelica Chazaro)
Citizens gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in the dawn hours to blockade busses with deportees from leaving. (Photo by Angelica Chazaro)

The frustration with private prisons companies was evident Monday morning as a group of 30 activists from the Northwest Detention Center Resistance Coalition locked arms and blocked the streets leading to the Northwest Detention Center. Thirty more activists were onsite in solidarity with the direct action, which blocked access to the detention center from 5:30 a.m. — when buses typically leave to drive immigrant detainees who are being deported to the airport — until noon. No detainees were deported from the facility Monday.

“Demonstrators’ actions Monday impeded access to the Northwest Detention Center, prompting ICE to postpone several previously scheduled detainee appointments with outside healthcare specialists,” says ICE Spokeswoman Lori Haley. “ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in its custody, and crucial to that mission is providing detainees with timely medical treatment.”

Pablo Paez, GEO Group’s Vice President of Corporate Relations, could not be reached for comment.

“It was a success and we are going to keep doing it until that place is shut down,” says Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist who participated in Monday’s action and is undocumented herself. “We are excited about Congressman Smith and Senator Sanders’ efforts; finally the Congress-people are seeing what we have seen for a long time.”

5 Comments

  1. Bernie Sanders Reform War on Drugs: Decriminalize Marijuana!

    The War on Drugs has cost billions in tax dollars and has incarcerated millions of Americans—exploding our prison and jail populations. Bernie Sanders supports the decriminalization of marijuana. “I support marijuana use for medical purposes. In Colorado, people who run marijuana shops can’t put their money in banks, for example. That’s a violation of federal law. So I think there are things that the federal government can do that would make it easier for states that want to go in that direction to be able to do so,” Sanders said.
    Watch the full interview on YouTube:

    https://youtu.be/1prKoYvB8n8

  2. Bernie Sanders: Private Prisons Profit by Locking Up African Americans and Hispanics!

    “We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration,” Sanders said. “Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be an acceptable business model in America. We have got to end the private prison racket in America. Our focus should be on treating people with dignity and ensuring they have the resources they need to get back on their feet when they get out. We need to end the tragic reality that the United States has more people in jail than any other country on earth, and that the people being incarcerated are disproportionately black and Hispanic. We need to take a hard look at why the rate of recidivism in this country is so high and why we are not developing successful paths back to civil society for those who serve prison time,” Sanders said.

    Watch Bernie Sanders talk about banning private prisons on Youtube:
    https://youtu.be/-A8HgT7Pp_Q

  3. Bernie Sanders: Wall Street Greed, High Drug Prices Killing Americans!

    Bernie Sanders has a heated discussion about high drug prices and Universal Health Care. “We spend far more per capita on health care than do people in any other country. Thirty million people today have zero health insurance and many more are under-insured. How do we create Universal Health Care for every man, woman and child, and do it in a cost effective way? Other countries do it, the United States of America can do it. The private insurance companies don’t like this idea. We’re going to put them out of business. And the drug companies that are ripping off the American people and charging us the highest prices in the world don’t like the idea. Tough luck! The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is killing Americans,” Sanders said.

    Watch the entire CBS This Morning Interview On YouTube:
    https://youtu.be/lfNpWEqF7-g

  4. Bernie Sanders Echoes Pope Francis on Poverty, Social Justice, Climate Change!

    “Pope Francis is not just asking us to alleviate poverty and move toward more a equitable distribution of wealth and income. Nor is he simply requesting that we act boldly to combat climate change and save the planet. He is asking us to create a new form of society where the economy works for all, and not just the wealthy and the powerful. He is asking us to become a different kind of person, where our happiness and well-being comes from serving others and being part of the human community – not by spending our lives accumulating more and more wealth and power while oppressing others.”

    “He has a very, very progressive agenda,” Sanders said. “He is looking in the eyes of the wealthiest people in this country … and he is saying, ‘You know what? You cannot continue to ignore the needs of the poor, you cannot continue to ignore the needs of the sick.’ And he is also saying trickle-down economic theory … really doesn’t work. That government itself is obliged to protect those who are vulnerable, and that is a message, I have to be honest, that my Republican colleagues do not want to hear,” Sanders said.

    Watch Bernie Sanders Talk About Pope Francis on YouTube
    https://youtu.be/-_7HDhsNwlc

  5. OK…so the Bern has some legislation and says some things that people like. He is still in the Senate and what has he done to investigate specific issues related to the Northwest Detention Center when the latest contract came up for review. He is the RANKING Minority Member on the BUDGET Committee . GEO has won a 9 Year 6 month contract (great citizens helped delay the final award – with their BODIES) worth $57,000,000 in annualized revenue.
    http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151001005937/en/#.Vg0vv-xVhHw

    WE must shut-down the immigration detention system NOW!
    Maybe Bernie will help. Maybe he will call me and I can give him some clues!

Comments are closed.

5 Comments

  1. Bernie Sanders Reform War on Drugs: Decriminalize Marijuana!

    The War on Drugs has cost billions in tax dollars and has incarcerated millions of Americans—exploding our prison and jail populations. Bernie Sanders supports the decriminalization of marijuana. “I support marijuana use for medical purposes. In Colorado, people who run marijuana shops can’t put their money in banks, for example. That’s a violation of federal law. So I think there are things that the federal government can do that would make it easier for states that want to go in that direction to be able to do so,” Sanders said.
    Watch the full interview on YouTube:

    https://youtu.be/1prKoYvB8n8

  2. Bernie Sanders: Private Prisons Profit by Locking Up African Americans and Hispanics!

    “We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration,” Sanders said. “Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be an acceptable business model in America. We have got to end the private prison racket in America. Our focus should be on treating people with dignity and ensuring they have the resources they need to get back on their feet when they get out. We need to end the tragic reality that the United States has more people in jail than any other country on earth, and that the people being incarcerated are disproportionately black and Hispanic. We need to take a hard look at why the rate of recidivism in this country is so high and why we are not developing successful paths back to civil society for those who serve prison time,” Sanders said.

    Watch Bernie Sanders talk about banning private prisons on Youtube:
    https://youtu.be/-A8HgT7Pp_Q

  3. Bernie Sanders: Wall Street Greed, High Drug Prices Killing Americans!

    Bernie Sanders has a heated discussion about high drug prices and Universal Health Care. “We spend far more per capita on health care than do people in any other country. Thirty million people today have zero health insurance and many more are under-insured. How do we create Universal Health Care for every man, woman and child, and do it in a cost effective way? Other countries do it, the United States of America can do it. The private insurance companies don’t like this idea. We’re going to put them out of business. And the drug companies that are ripping off the American people and charging us the highest prices in the world don’t like the idea. Tough luck! The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is killing Americans,” Sanders said.

    Watch the entire CBS This Morning Interview On YouTube:
    https://youtu.be/lfNpWEqF7-g

  4. Bernie Sanders Echoes Pope Francis on Poverty, Social Justice, Climate Change!

    “Pope Francis is not just asking us to alleviate poverty and move toward more a equitable distribution of wealth and income. Nor is he simply requesting that we act boldly to combat climate change and save the planet. He is asking us to create a new form of society where the economy works for all, and not just the wealthy and the powerful. He is asking us to become a different kind of person, where our happiness and well-being comes from serving others and being part of the human community – not by spending our lives accumulating more and more wealth and power while oppressing others.”

    “He has a very, very progressive agenda,” Sanders said. “He is looking in the eyes of the wealthiest people in this country … and he is saying, ‘You know what? You cannot continue to ignore the needs of the poor, you cannot continue to ignore the needs of the sick.’ And he is also saying trickle-down economic theory … really doesn’t work. That government itself is obliged to protect those who are vulnerable, and that is a message, I have to be honest, that my Republican colleagues do not want to hear,” Sanders said.

    Watch Bernie Sanders Talk About Pope Francis on YouTube
    https://youtu.be/-_7HDhsNwlc

  5. OK…so the Bern has some legislation and says some things that people like. He is still in the Senate and what has he done to investigate specific issues related to the Northwest Detention Center when the latest contract came up for review. He is the RANKING Minority Member on the BUDGET Committee . GEO has won a 9 Year 6 month contract (great citizens helped delay the final award – with their BODIES) worth $57,000,000 in annualized revenue.
    http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151001005937/en/#.Vg0vv-xVhHw

    WE must shut-down the immigration detention system NOW!
    Maybe Bernie will help. Maybe he will call me and I can give him some clues!

Comments are closed.