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San Francisco Chronicle
16-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Takeaways from AP's reporting on shuttered prisons, mass deportation push and no-bid contracts
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Private prison operators are marketing their shuttered lockups to federal immigration officials as President Donald Trump pushes for mass deportations, with some facilities nabbing lucrative no-bid contracts. When Trump, a Republican, took office, politically connected private-prison giants CoreCivic Inc. and The Geo Group Inc. had around 20 idle facilities, partially the result of sentencing reforms that reduced prison populations. But the push to reopen them has been met with resistance in unexpected places like Leavenworth, Kansas, a town whose name alone evokes a short hand for serving hard time. The Leavenworth facility was mothballed in late 2021 after then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to curb the use of private prisons. Here's a look at some of the takeaways from an Associated Press report about private prisons in the era of mass deportations. Demand for bed spurs interest in private prisons The Trump administration wants to increase its budgeted capacity of about 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds and maybe — if private prison executives' predictions are accurate — more than 150,000. That has a gallery of shuttered facilities — some with a history of issues — coming online near major immigrant population centers, from New York to Los Angeles, where Trump hopes to detain and deport millions of people. With Congress weighing massive spending increases for deportations, the companies' stock and profit estimates have soared. Deals inked as contract modifications or without bids Just last week, Geo Group announced that ICE modified a contract for an existing detention center in southeastern Georgia so that the company could reopen an idle prison on adjacent land to hold 1,868 migrants. 'Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now,' said CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger during an earnings call last month with shareholders. Leavenworth inspired the term 'the big house' But skeptical city officials in Leavenworth, a town of around 37,000 residents on the northwest fringe of the Kansas City metropolitan area, argue that CoreCivic needs a special use permit to reopen its facility. CoreCivic disagrees, saying that it doesn't because it never abandoned the facility and that the permitting process would take too long. Leavenworth sued the company to force it to get one, and a state-court judge last week issued an order requiring it. The area's politics and roots as a prison town might have been expected to help CoreCivic. Trump carried its county by more than 20 percentage points in each of his three campaigns for president. And in years past, the federal penitentiary housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — in a building so storied that it inspired the term 'the big house.' CoreCivic 'caused the city all kinds of heartburn,' attorney says An attorney for the city, Joe Hatley, said the legal fight indicates how much ill will CoreCivic generated when it held criminal suspects there for trials in federal court for the U.S. Marshals Service. 'They just mismanaged it, and it caused the city all kinds of heartburn,' Hatley said. Vacancies among correctional officers were as high as 23%, according to a Department of Justice report in 2017. 'It was just mayhem,' recalled William Rogers, who worked as a guard at the CoreCivic facility in Leavenworth from 2016 through 2020. And the American Civil Liberties Union and federal public defenders detailed stabbings, suicides, a homicide and inmate rights violations in a 2021 letter to the White House. CoreCivic responded at the time that the claims were 'false and defamatory.' Critics have included a federal judge When Leavenworth sued CoreCivic, it opened its lawsuit with a quote from U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson — an appointee of President George W. Bush, a Republican — who said of the prison: 'The only way I could describe it frankly, what's going on at CoreCivic right now is it's an absolute hell hole.' The city's lawsuit described detainees locked in showers as punishment. It said that sheets and towels from the facility clogged up the wastewater system and that CoreCivic impeded the city police force's ability to investigate sexual assaults and other violent crimes. The facility had no inmates when CoreCivic gave reporters a tour earlier this year, and it looked scrubbed top to bottom and the smell of disinfectant hung in the air. When asked about the allegations of past problems, Misty Mackey, a longtime CoreCivic employee who was tapped to serve as warden there, apologized for past employees' experiences and said the company officials 'do our best to make sure that we learn from different situations.' From idle prisons to a 'gold rush' ICE declared a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico as part of its justification for authorizing nine five-year contracts for a combined 10,312 beds without 'Full and Open Competition.' Only three of the nine potential facilities were listed in ICE's document: Leavenworth, a 2,560-bed CoreCivic-owned facility in California City, California, and an 1,800-bed Geo-owned prison in Baldwin, Michigan. The agreement for the Leavenworth facility hasn't been released, nor have documents for the other two sites. CoreCivic and Geo Group officials said last month on earnings calls that ICE used what are known as letter contracts, meant to speed things up when time is critical. CoreCivic officials said ICE's letter contracts provide initial funding to begin reopening facilities while the company negotiates a longer-term deal. The Leavenworth deal is worth $4.2 million a month to the company, it disclosed in a court filing. Financial analysts on company earnings calls have been delighted. When CoreCivic announced its letter contracts, Joe Gomes, of the financial services firm Noble Capital Markets, responded with, 'Great news.' 'Are you hiding any more of them on us?' he asked.
Winnipeg Free Press
16-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Takeaways from AP's reporting on shuttered prisons, mass deportation push and no-bid contracts
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Private prison operators are marketing their shuttered lockups to federal immigration officials as President Donald Trump pushes for mass deportations, with some facilities nabbing lucrative no-bid contracts. When Trump, a Republican, took office, politically connected private-prison giants CoreCivic Inc. and The Geo Group Inc. had around 20 idle facilities, partially the result of sentencing reforms that reduced prison populations. But the push to reopen them has been met with resistance in unexpected places like Leavenworth, Kansas, a town whose name alone evokes a short hand for serving hard time. The Leavenworth facility was mothballed in late 2021 after then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to curb the use of private prisons. Here's a look at some of the takeaways from an Associated Press report about private prisons in the era of mass deportations. Demand for bed spurs interest in private prisons The Trump administration wants to increase its budgeted capacity of about 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds and maybe — if private prison executives' predictions are accurate — more than 150,000. That has a gallery of shuttered facilities — some with a history of issues — coming online near major immigrant population centers, from New York to Los Angeles, where Trump hopes to detain and deport millions of people. With Congress weighing massive spending increases for deportations, the companies' stock and profit estimates have soared. Deals inked as contract modifications or without bids Just last week, Geo Group announced that ICE modified a contract for an existing detention center in southeastern Georgia so that the company could reopen an idle prison on adjacent land to hold 1,868 migrants. 'Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now,' said CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger during an earnings call last month with shareholders. Leavenworth inspired the term 'the big house' But skeptical city officials in Leavenworth, a town of around 37,000 residents on the northwest fringe of the Kansas City metropolitan area, argue that CoreCivic needs a special use permit to reopen its facility. CoreCivic disagrees, saying that it doesn't because it never abandoned the facility and that the permitting process would take too long. Leavenworth sued the company to force it to get one, and a state-court judge last week issued an order requiring it. The area's politics and roots as a prison town might have been expected to help CoreCivic. Trump carried its county by more than 20 percentage points in each of his three campaigns for president. And in years past, the federal penitentiary housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — in a building so storied that it inspired the term 'the big house.' CoreCivic 'caused the city all kinds of heartburn,' attorney says An attorney for the city, Joe Hatley, said the legal fight indicates how much ill will CoreCivic generated when it held criminal suspects there for trials in federal court for the U.S. Marshals Service. 'They just mismanaged it, and it caused the city all kinds of heartburn,' Hatley said. Vacancies among correctional officers were as high as 23%, according to a Department of Justice report in 2017. 'It was just mayhem,' recalled William Rogers, who worked as a guard at the CoreCivic facility in Leavenworth from 2016 through 2020. And the American Civil Liberties Union and federal public defenders detailed stabbings, suicides, a homicide and inmate rights violations in a 2021 letter to the White House. CoreCivic responded at the time that the claims were 'false and defamatory.' Critics have included a federal judge When Leavenworth sued CoreCivic, it opened its lawsuit with a quote from U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson — an appointee of President George W. Bush, a Republican — who said of the prison: 'The only way I could describe it frankly, what's going on at CoreCivic right now is it's an absolute hell hole.' The city's lawsuit described detainees locked in showers as punishment. It said that sheets and towels from the facility clogged up the wastewater system and that CoreCivic impeded the city police force's ability to investigate sexual assaults and other violent crimes. The facility had no inmates when CoreCivic gave reporters a tour earlier this year, and it looked scrubbed top to bottom and the smell of disinfectant hung in the air. When asked about the allegations of past problems, Misty Mackey, a longtime CoreCivic employee who was tapped to serve as warden there, apologized for past employees' experiences and said the company officials 'do our best to make sure that we learn from different situations.' From idle prisons to a 'gold rush' ICE declared a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico as part of its justification for authorizing nine five-year contracts for a combined 10,312 beds without 'Full and Open Competition.' Only three of the nine potential facilities were listed in ICE's document: Leavenworth, a 2,560-bed CoreCivic-owned facility in California City, California, and an 1,800-bed Geo-owned prison in Baldwin, Michigan. The agreement for the Leavenworth facility hasn't been released, nor have documents for the other two sites. CoreCivic and Geo Group officials said last month on earnings calls that ICE used what are known as letter contracts, meant to speed things up when time is critical. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. CoreCivic officials said ICE's letter contracts provide initial funding to begin reopening facilities while the company negotiates a longer-term deal. The Leavenworth deal is worth $4.2 million a month to the company, it disclosed in a court filing. Financial analysts on company earnings calls have been delighted. When CoreCivic announced its letter contracts, Joe Gomes, of the financial services firm Noble Capital Markets, responded with, 'Great news.' 'Are you hiding any more of them on us?' he asked. ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan. Associated Press writers Joshua Goodman in Miami and Morgan Lee, in Santa Fe, N.M., contributed reporting.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee tax refund boosts private prison operator
CoreCivic, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, one of the state's biggest donors to lawmakers, scored a recent tax refund from Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo) Tennessee's private-prison operator lost nearly $45 million in state payments over three years for failing to meet contractual requirements, but it's landing a nice windfall as part of the state's business tax cut deal. Newly-released records show Brentwood-based CoreCivic Inc. and its affiliate CoreCivic TRS LLC & Subs each received refunds of more than $10,000 for three years of tax rebates after lawmakers approved an estimated $1.9 billion franchise and excise tax reduction in 2024. Because of the wide range for payouts, the public will never be able to find out exactly how much the state returned to CoreCivic or 16,000 other companies, many of them based out of state, that received more than 10 grand each. Lawmakers approved categories of less than $750 for the list, between $750 and $10,000 and more than $10,000. CoreCivic is one of the state's biggest donors to lawmakers' biggest donors, as well, even though we know that legislators don't base their decisions on campaign contributions. At least that's what they tell us. Tennessee levied $44.78 million in penalties against private prison operator in three years Release of the lists in the past week has spurred a bit of debate about whether it is transparent enough, especially since it doesn't specify exact amounts refunded and will be up on the state's website for only 30 days. Aside from that argument and discussion about whether this tax break was a giveaway to make the rich richer, it shows that numerous business entities got what some might call the old double dip. Take, for instance, SmileDirectClub. The company landed a $300,000 grant from the state in 2017, then hit it big with $10 million from Tennessee in 2019 and the blessing of Gov. Bill Lee for a Nashville expansion. But the tooth-straightening company hit the skids and filed for bankruptcy in 2023, then closed up shop. Yet even though it's no longer operating, SmileDirect is drawing a refund in excess of $10,000 from the state. The list is long for companies receiving state grants over the last decade and now tax refunds. FedEx netted a $10 million grant for a $44 million investment in Shelby County in 2019, and Hankook Tire landed $6 million in 2022 for a $611 million project in Clarksville. And don't forget about Ford Motor Co., which received nearly a billion dollars worth of incentives for BlueOval City in West Tennessee and will draw a refund in excess of $10,000 under the new scheme (I mean law). Production at the electric truck plant is running more than a year behind schedule mainly because of concerns about the EV industry. World's top businesses, Lee Company receive biggest Tennessee tax rebates The debate centers on whether this stuff is creating a business-friendlier state, putting Tennessee in the midst of economic recruiting wars or simply donating to corporate welfare. The conservative Beacon Center puts out an annual Pork Report declaring the state's biggest winners of government largesse. In December, it asked people to weigh in last year on three finalists: Memphis Area Transit Authority spending tens of millions on Grizzlies suites and a downtown office; Lebanon City Council approval of a $1.5 million for an unnamed restaurant; and the $2.3 billion from state and local taxpayers for a new Titans stadium at the same time $80,000 is going toward the old stadium. Axing of the franchise tax on business property didn't make the cut. But if that's not a giveaway, what is? After all, these companies knew the rules when they started, and a letter to the state by businesses challenging the constitutionality of the franchise tax on property could be considered a form of extortion. One lawmaker said this week if you consider the money as belonging to the businesses and then being turned over to the government in the form of taxes, then it's not a giveaway. That begs the question, though, what about the sales taxes millions of people pay every time they buy a package of bacon? Where's the love for the little people? To which some might say, 'What's love got to do with it?' Former Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn failed to list a new company called New Horizon BluePrint Group on her federal disclosure form, then dissolved it shortly before the U.S. Senate took up the confirmation hearing for her appointment as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Records show she started the business, a Florida LLC, with Donald Fennoy, former director of the Palm Beach County School District in Florida, in February, after President Donald Trump nominated her for the post. Schwinn's sister took over the company in late March, before it was dissolved, raising questions about the timing. Typically, folks don't start businesses after they've been nominated for federal jobs, and they don't forget to put them on their conflict of interest disclosure form either. The74, an online education publication, reported the failure to disclose the business – which never really came to fruition – might cause Schwinn problems in her Thursday hearing. Former Tennessee education leader promises feds she will cut conflicts But that would be the least of her problems, if the Senate looks at her history and not just her work resume. She spent most of her time Thursday bragging about gains Tennessee students made during her tenure. But Schwinn had some hiccups too during her time here working for Gov. Bill Lee. The Tennessee Department of Education signed an $8 million contract in 2021 with TNTP, a teacher training company that employed her husband. She had to sign an ethics agreement promising not to discuss TNTP stuff with him. Lawmakers also passed legislation removing the education commissioner from the textbook approval process because they felt Schwinn was directing business to favored companies. In addition, the Education Department saw an exodus of experienced people during her tenure. This list could continue. Not that anyone in Washington, D.C. cares much about conflicts of interest or questionable business dealings. Those are status quo. But at some point, the public will rebel against this type of corruption and put someone else in charge of lining pockets. Chip Saltsman sparked speculation about the political future of House Speaker Cameron Sexton this week when he posted a photo of a Crossville video shoot and said people should 'stay tuned' for a 'big announcement coming.' Does this mean Sexton is leaving Nashville and moving back home to Cumberland County? It's possible. More than likely, Sexton will be announcing his intentions to run for Congress to replace U.S. Rep. John Rose, who is running for governor. The Lookout asked Sexton more than a year ago if he was considering a run for the District 6 seat. His response was that Rose held the post. At that press conference, other House Republican leaders laughed and wondered why they weren't being asked the same question. Probably because nobody cares? Recently, though, state Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville said he was considering seeking the District 6 seat. We haven't heard much about it since then. Come to think of it, we haven't seen much out of Rose, either, since the bitterly cold day he announced he was running for governor. Whatever the case, we'll be staying up nights to monitor X (formerly Twitter) to see Sexton's forthcoming pronouncement. It could cause a bigger ripple effect than the time the Mississippi ran backwards. 'Take me to the river, drop me in the water / Washing me down, washing me down.' * *'Take Me to the River,' Talking Heads SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
