If you’re looking to make some money, try locking up toddlers.
One for-profit prison company has found that incarcerating infants, toddlers, children, and mothers—as long as they’re undocumented immigrants—is a great way to boost their revenue by upward of $49 million over the previous year.
The latest quarterly finance report from Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit prison company, indicates that its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to manage a detention center packed with immigrant mothers and children is very helpful to its bottom line.
Part of the reason their deal is so lucrative? The public isn’t particularly bothered by it.
The company can thank President Obama. Facing enormous political pressure and eye-grabbing headlines, the Obama administration moved last summer to dramatically expand the federal government’s capacity for locking up young mothers and kids.