In more immigration news, the private, for-profit company GEO Group has announced a new contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that will see the reopening of a shuttered Michigan prison to start detaining immigrants and asylum seekers. The North Lake facility in Baldwin would become one of the largest ICE jails in the country, with a capacity of at least 1,800 people. North Lake closed in 2022 as part of President Biden’s executive order to end the use of private prisons by the federal government. Detention Watch Network said in a statement, “The perverse financial incentives are glaring as GEO Group stands to generate in excess of $70 million in annualized revenue from North Lake, at the expense of people’s lives.” GEO Group’s stock value has soared since Trump returned to office.

This comes as the National Labor Relations Board has dropped a case accusing GEO Group of retaliating against immigrant detainees who protested over low pay and dangerous working conditions. Detainees are paid as little as $1 a day for their labor.