Private Prisons Get a Boost From Trump
Immigrant detainees at the Adelanto Detention Facility in California.
Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
In August, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement announcing it would stop contracting with private prisons to house inmates serving federal sentences. The news sent the stock of Corrections Corporation of America, the world’s largest private prison company, plummeting. The share price stayed down until the day after Donald Trump’s election, when it jumped 40 percent. The company’s main competitor, Boca Raton, Fla.-based GEO Group, rose 30 percent.
The Nashville-based company changed its name to CoreCivic in October. Along with its prison business, the company oversees detention centers used to house thousands of undocumented immigrants picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “CoreCivic is well-positioned to provide innovative, dependable solutions,” says Jonathan Burns, CoreCivic’s director of public affairs.