Report: Immigrant quotas benefit for-profit prison operators

Source: Yahoo! News / AP

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Minimum occupancy quotas at immigrant detention facilities across the U.S. benefit for-profit prison operators by guaranteeing the government pays for thousands of detainees, regardless of whether those spots are filled, according to a new report by a group that monitors immigrant detention.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had to pay for 3,255 immigrants daily at five detention facilities in Texas, the most of any state, said the report by the Detention Watch Network. Texas has seen a large wave of immigrants from Central America illegally crossing the state's border with Mexico the past few years.

At least 10 other detention facilities in New York, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Arizona and Washington state had guaranteed-minimum populations written into their contracts, bringing the total nationwide to about 8,500, according to the report released Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat, criticized the practice, saying it encourages detention. He said he is looking to end the practice through legislation he plans to introduce next week. It would prohibit ICE from signing contracts containing guaranteed-minimum provisions.

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