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Following DOJ Decision, DHS to Review Private Prison Contracts

HeadlineAug 30, 2016

In the United States, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has ordered DHS review its contracts with for-profit prison companies. This comes after the Justice Department told the Bureau of Prisons to end its use of private prisons earlier this month. DHS oversees a network of immigrant detention centers. About 34,000 immigrants are currently being held in for-profit detention centers. Human rights activists and some lawmakers celebrated the announcement. Arizona Congressmember Raúl Grijalva said, “This step is a tacit admission that the corporations who profit by locking up desperate adults and children undermine our decency as a nation.” As with the Justice Department’s announcement two weeks ago, the DHS move caused the plunge of stocks for GEO Group and Corrections Corporations of America, two of the largest for-profit prison operators.

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