Aparna Komarla - Week 7 - A04

The privatization of prisons and incarceration in America, is a consolidation of white supremacy, neo-liberalism, and neo-colonialism onto black and brown bodies. The prison industrial complex is an intentional system designed to continue the legacy of occupation that is a segment of America’s continued imperialistic agenda. In “The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention”, Ackerman and Furman describe how private establishments have profited or benefited from immigration detention, by creating models that reward higher rates of incarceration and longer sentences. As we discussed in lecture, immigration in America, specifically at the border with Mexico is a problem that America sprouted with its political and economic infiltration in the region. Central America and Mexico were seen as a breeding ground for communism if America did not intervene to overthrow Russian backed communist forces. The cycle of instability was further continued through the economic control America established in the region. When immigration from these regions into America became the only option to escape the violence folks faced, the US was unwilling to create a space for them, and instead placed this issue within the neo-liberal structure and used their history to continue to profit and benefit from them.

Question: How can we make knowledge about privatizing immigration detention through the lens of American foreign policy spanning over two decades, mainstream and accessible?


References:

Ackerman, A. R. and Furman, R. (2013). The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice. Contemporary Justice Review.