Florida residents protest plans against new CCA prison
Florida residents protest CCA’s new plan to build a new immigrant detention center. While CCA has claimed that it will provide more “humane conditions for detainees who pose no security threat,” the likeliness of CCA committing to its promises remains to be seen–Iliana
Read moreHope Mustakim speaks out about her husband’s detention at a GEO facility in South Texas
Hope Mustakim speaks out about her husband’s detention at a GEO facility in South Texas. In her own words, she takes us on a personal journey–where she delineates how she met Naz, the struggles they’re currently undergoing–and what would happen if he were deported to Singapore. To learn more about how you can support Hope and Naz,
visit her website: http://www.wesupportnaz.com/- Iliana
GEO Group Feels Stock Slump
The GEO Group announced today that they will participate in a stock repurchase program of up to $100 million that will be effective through December 21, 2012. CEO George Zoley discusses the repurchase program: “Given current market conditions, we believe it is appropriate to allocate part of our capital resources to opportunistically repurchase shares of common stock at prices which would meet or exceed our targeted returns on invested capital.” Are the current market conditions that Zoley refers to reflective of the cancellation of GEO’s recent California contracts? Is GEO feeling the pressure to be more competitive than CCA, who just won the re-bid of a contract from the sunny state of Hawaii, or, could it be, that GEO is feeling the pressure of activist groups that are denouncing its inhumane practices across the nation? -Iliana
Via Business Wire
Read moreTexas Gov. Rick Perry Pushes Harshest Anti-Immigration Bill Yet – Passes Senate
Republican Gov. Rick Perry is apparently preparing his presidential run by declaring and all-out open season on Latinos.
This bill is the harshest yet and comes precisely at a time when his presidential ambitions are being well known. Of course, Texas is a private prison galore! – Axel
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Read moreL.A. Times Today Features Guzman Family: ‘Could he be a good American?’
Cuéntame’s own Iliana Sosa went to Georgia and followed the Guzman family ordeal which will be released in an upcoming two part-series on how private prison CCA profited from a 19 month procedural mistake (Preview Video). Today the L.A. Times features their incredible journey while raising some important questions. Is this the only option for our immigration system? Lock-em up for a profit? – Axel
Photo Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times
June 4, 2011
Read moreRecall For AZ Russell Pearce Gains Momentum: 18K Signatures – Twice What Is Needed
The architect -along with the Corrections Corporation of America- of Arizona SB1070, member of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and tied to neonazi groups – often accused of racial slurs and actions is now facing a strong recall campaign. Surprise? Not in the least. – Axel
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Read moreCalifornia Court Orders Ease of Prison Overpopulation: But Immigrant Detention Centers To Make Up For Lost Profit
Today from NPR: The nation’s leading private jailers have a way of coming out on the winning end.
When state prison contracts have dwindled in the past, the private prison industry has traditionally helped make up for lost revenue from federal contracts, notably IMMIGRANT DETENTION CONTRACTS. Immigrantsforsale.org
- Axel Caballero
Via NPR
May 23, 2011 | 12:27 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas
Journey To Georgia: Private Prisons Tearing Families Apart
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Emily Guzman and her family as I joined them on a caravan from Durham, NC to Lumpkin, GA where her husband has been detained at the largest private prison facility in the nation, Stewart Detention Center. Stewart is a CCA operated facility that has more inmates than Lumpkin’s total population.
Read moreExposing The Immigrants For Sale Scheme
Georgia is the latest state to pass an anti-immigrant bill like SB1070, with Governor Deal having signed it on Friday. Georgia is ALSO home to the largest private prison in the country.Coincidence? Not even close.
It’s hardly a secret that private prison corporations like Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO group, along with right-wing lobbying group ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and a few pocketed state legislators like Russell Pearce in Arizona, have been at it–deliberately promoting and designing laws aimed at incarcerating immigrants and turning the prison system into an incredibly lucrative business.
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