The legacy of both Trump presidencies remains the radical shift in immigration — a policy framework whose human costs haunt our national conscience. The horrifying images from his first term — immigrants, including children, confined in overcrowded cages — were not just an anomaly; they were a business model. Now, as new enforcement sweeps move through our communities, that terror has returned.
Upon closer inspection, these dragnets are rarely precise; reports frequently surface of legal residents and even American citizens being swept up in the chaos. But in the cold math of the detention industry, the identity of the detainee matters less than the fact that a bed is filled.
Who truly benefits from this brutal efficiency? Follow the money, and you’ll wind up on the doorsteps of CoreCivic and the GEO Group (headquartered right here in Boca Raton). As the nation’s largest private prison contractors, these firms have secured multi-billion dollar contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The incentive is built into the contract: a per diem payment for every person held. The more people arrested, the higher the profit margin.
Is it a coincidence that these corporate beneficiaries of exorbitant government contracts were also some of the largest donors to Donald Trump’s inaugural committees? While loyal Trump voters may cheer the display of force and the sight of foreign families being split apart, the boardrooms of the prison-industrial complex are toasting to record quarterly earnings as their stock prices skyrocket.
At first glance, it looks like these deplorable policies serve his base, which often complains of lost jobs to foreign workers. But it is a mistake to believe these sweeps are designed to reclaim jobs for the American worker. Even Trump, throughout his pre-political business life, staffed his gaudy resorts with cheap, undocumented labor. Many industries that form his core base — construction, agriculture and manufacturing — practice similar business strategies.
My perspective comes from the front lines of this data. During my time as an assistant editor for the Human Rights Defense Center, which publishes Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, the two most frequently read periodicals by the incarcerated, I saw firsthand how the “profit-per-head” model has corrupted our justice system.
The private prison lobby doesn’t just manage cells — they help write the laws that fill them:
“Three Strikes” Laws: Once promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a nonprofit organization of conservative lawmakers and businesses partially funded by private prison firms — these laws mandated life sentences for third-time offenders. This ensured that prisons remained teeming with an aging, non-threatening population that raked in billions for decades.
“Truth-in-Sentencing”: By eliminating parole or “good time” credits, these laws ensure offenders serve nearly 100% of their time, stripping away incentives for rehabilitation while maximizing “bed-days” for contractors.
“Pay-to-Stay”: Perhaps most insidious is the practice of charging inmates for their own incarceration. For many, the harshest punishment begins after release, as they are hounded for “room and board” fees they can never hope to pay. Good luck to any former felon finding legal work that’ll pay those steep bills. This creates a never-ending cycle of debt and recidivism that ensures the revolving door of the prison keeps spinning.
Any action of an elected politician should serve their supporters, yet these policies primarily serve the balance sheets of corporate donors. Who pays the price? Lady Liberty. The statue that greets families of refugees that risk everything to come here is not that of a warrior, but a welcoming mother, armed only with a blinding torch and a book. This book promises the “tempest tossed” that they are now governed by laws, not the tyrannical whims of a dictator.
By putting the profits of his donors ahead of the rule of law, the Trump administration simultaneously destroys our country’s identity as a refuge in a dangerous world. Once upon a time, anyone could reject the shackles of their old lives and relish the taste of freedom in America. Today, Trump has sold the American dream to the highest bidder.
Jordan Arizmendi was an assistant editor at Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News. He lives in Pompano Beach.
