Culpable: How the Private Prison Industry Profits from Undocumented Immigration

Abstract

During the last year, I have conducted secondhand and firsthand research on the topic of the private prison system and the power they have effecting incarceration laws in the Unites States, specifically in consideration of anti-immigration policy and the detention of undocumented immigrants. I started with scholarly research on the history of privatization, and conducted interviews with professionals in Tucson to localize the issue, and learn about Arizona's use of private prisons. In the end, I found what I feel is a toxic cycle of private corporations profiting from anti-immigration policies that they are simultaneously paying to have enforced through lobbying and campaign contributions. This brought me to the conclusion that as long as powerful parties can profit from undocumented immigration, the U.S. will have no reason to work towards reform.