Privatizing incarceration for profit is the unstated reason for the acceleration of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
How many people are detained vs. how many are actually deported?
Those who are not deported are kept in abysmal conditions that are cruel,inhumane, and cheaply provided.  The difference between that cost and the amount allocated by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” is significant. Where does the money go, and how much of that is flowing to Trump, Inc., either directly or via “bitcoin investments” from those profiting from all the new incarceration contracts?
The next step in the Trump administration’s never-ending campaign to blend away the difference between government power and private profit is already in place with ICE.
They are already federalizing private property— thus avoiding the expense of local property taxes— for ICE detentions.  Appleton, Minn. knows all about this.
The Trump administration is also turning the federal Bureau of Prisons into another money pipeline for corporations that will own and operate prisons.
Privately owned prison companies have been generously lobbying for years, looking forward to massive profits from holding people who don’t have much in the way of leverage or rights.  One key right prisoners do have is a recognized constitutional right to medical care.  This is an expense the corporations don’t want to pay for. People who have been in prison for more than ten years aren’t as healthy as the general population.  Anyone who’s been in jail for ten years, with twenty left to serve, has a pretty dismal health outlook no matter what you do now.  The private prison industry will be very happy to see these expenses shifted elsewhere—guess where.
Dave Porter
Bloomington