“Following the money” is a sound method for unearthing the corrupt systems, and private prison systems are no exception. Often, the ones who are initiating the problem have to be the same ones who profit. In order to orchestrate such a large issue, a lot of minds in policy-making and the public need to be convinced. An easy way to do so is to instill fear. In the case of immigrants, criminalizing them seems to be the most profitable answer at the expense of a vulnerable, dispensable population. However, to make this happen is such a big undertaking that they can not directly affect federal policy. Instead, they choose to make life for undocumented immigrants harder in little ways that refrain them from having a normal life in the states, complete with all the same rights as any other citizen by influencing private prison companies and lobbying state legislatures. This forces them to fall into criminalized ways of life, choosing to find profit within stealing products to sell, drug-dealing, gang involvement, etc. Immigrants who would otherwise be able live a prosperous life are not only hindered, but criminalized, which affects many aspects of their life and highlights them in the eyes of authority.
Personally, I feel it’s easy to feel small in the bigger picture. It’s hard to feel like I have an impact when there are much bigger forces at play. Regardless, change is a part of life and I believe everything that has happened can be undone, hopefully for the better.
Question: Can this be undone or can other, legal options be constructed for immigrants in order to live a life will equal rights as a non-immigrant?
References:
Ackerman, Alissa, and Rich Furman. "The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice." Taylor and Francis Online. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2019.
Independent Television Service (ITVS). 2017
Newnham, Nicole. (Director, Writer). (2006). “Sentenced Home.” [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azzdELF1pyM
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