Despite the fact that Obama recently acquitted many immigrants of any fear of deportation, more immigrants are being jailed across America than ever before. According to the Detroit Press, the arrests generate large profits for the nation’s largest prison companies. Businesses have spent millions to lobby lawmakers and contribute to campaigns in an investment that is being returned by more immigration arrests. At the moment, American taxpayers are funding about $2 billion of these arrest expenses, and companies are expecting a large cut of that money thanks to the government plans for new facilities. At the moment, the government is planning for housing that can handle the 400,000 immigrants that are detained annually and need a place to remain in incarceration until they are deported to their home country.

Three companies control most of the construction and expansion of these federal prisons. At the moment, the government is working hard to add more beds so that they can arrest more immigrant offenders in the country. They have already created a detention center in a Denver suburb and another in an industrial area that is near the Newark airport. In 2011, nearly half of the beds in the nation’s civil detention system were in private facilities that are run by these businesses. The private facilities don’t have much federal oversight. The amount of men and women in these private facilities has risen by 10 percent since 2002.

The financial boom has helped some of these companies to avoid a lurking bankruptcy. The government has already acknowledged that federal privatization is not necessarily a cheaper way to house the criminals, but they believe it is a better option. Congress’ unsuccessful efforts to overhaul immigration laws sparked massive demonstrations, and underneath the debates the lawmakers were boosting the need for detention dollars. The three top prison companies that are raking in the dough are Corrections Corporation of America (CCA,) the GEO Group, and the Management and Trading Corp. Together, the three businesses have invested at least $45 million in campaign donations an lobbyists so that they could advance their business through a crackdown on immigration offenders.

The CCA and the GEO manage almost all of the private detention centers in the United States and insist that they aren’t trying to change immigration policy to make more money. They say that they would never lobby for causes that would promote the incarceration of an individual. There are 250 private detention centers nationwide which hold thousands of illegal immigrants that are awaiting deportation, a green card, or seeking asylum. The average cost per night to detain an illegal immigrant is about $166, which is paid out by taxpayers.

One of the largest differences between these private facilities and the large public prisons is the confidentiality of records. In a private institution, the immigrant’s records can be withheld from public scrutiny. The ICE Executive Association Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations says that the government has never studied whether or not privatizing an immigrant saves any money. Yet he says that they are not the most expensive or the cheapest facilities. In his opinion, money does not need to be the only factor in determining how illegal immigrants are detained. If you are in a legal trouble-spot because of an immigration issue, then you may need an immigration lawyer in your area to come by your side for help. Without the right representation you are lessening you chances of proving your case an enabling yourself to stay in the United States. Get in contact with an immigration lawyer in your area today if you need more information about how to get representation and avoid being placed in a private or public institution.