Week 7 - Nuong Vo - A04

     Coincidentally, I had done a research essay on for-profit prisons last year. I remember how Obama wanted to faze out of using for-profit prisons but now that we have Trump, Trump wants to continue the use of for-profit prisons. The government, however, doesn't want to run and manage a prison facility so they much rather pay a company to do it for them. For-profit prisons are terrible because they're incentivized to lock up as many people as possible because they are paid for every cell that gets filled up. So they benefit more to keep people in jail rather than rehabilitate them. The two biggest companies of for-profit prisons (GEO and Corrections Corporation of America) have done many shady business moves that would keep inmates in jail longer such as bribing judges and funding lobbyist that would support longer/harsher sentencing or the use of for-profit prisons.
      In this article, you can see the progression of how the government wants to criminalize undocumented immigrants by making more and more things illegal for them. It reminds me about something we talked in class about, that if you're not personally involved in a group than it's easy to demonize them. In my case, my significant other and many of my friends back at home are undocumented but it doesn't make them any lesser than me just because I'm naturalized and they're not. I'm not constantly reminded or thinking about how they are undocumented. However, people like to stigmatize undocumented people by calling them, violent criminals or rapists. It's interesting because in America we focus a lot on individualism rather than collectivism. Each individual came here for many reasons such as violence back in their country or just to seek a better life. They are people too and we should find a more beneficial way to help the undocumented population rather than hurt. Corporations are just taking advantage of the influx of undocumented people being sent to private prisons due to stricter laws. These corporations don't care about the well being of inmates, they only care about how much money it's going to make them. How can we phase out of the use of for-profit prisons?

Images:
Ellis, Ralph. 2017. “Dreamers on DACA's End: 'We Will Not Be Thrown Back into the Shadows'.” CNN. Retrieved February 11, 2019 (https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/politics/daca-dreamer-reaction/index.html).
Golden, Allyson. 2015. “The Stigma Against Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S.” Homelessness Affordable Housing NYC. Retrieved February 11, 2019 (https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/thompsonfall2015/2015/10/27/the-stigma-against-undocumented-immigrants-in-the-u-s/).
Citation:
Ackerman, Alissa R. and Rich Furman. 2013. “The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice.” Contemporary Justice Review 16(2):251–63.