As some of Oklahoma's older privately owned prisons are eyed as opportunities for expanding federal immigration detention capacity, one Oklahoma think tank aims to remind residents why more privatized incarceration is a bad deal for them and the state.
As the rate of Oklahomans detained for immigration reasons rises, so too does the need to detain them while they await deportation. It's a perfect opportunity for private prison corporations to profit from old, expensive buildings they own and no longer operate.
And that's what companies like CoreCivic, which owns the Diamondback Correctional Facility and Watonga and the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, could soon do.
Gabriella Ramirez-Perez is the immigration policy analyst for The Oklahoma Policy Institute, a center-left think tank focused on state policy research, analysis and advocacy.
She's also the co-author of a recent report about the private prison sector. She writes Oklahoma's private prisons have a history of inhumane conditions, violence, and broken promises to tiny local communities, among others.
Besides, she said in an interview, companies' stated need to provide the "service" of detainment for government authorities is inflated by incentivizing federal and state policies.
"I would say definitely the need for increased detainment is artificial because, in the article, we point out that really the majority of people being held do not have any criminal convictions," she said.
Federal data shows that on average this month 71% of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, have had no prior criminal record or were booked for some "other immigration violation." In an email statement, CoreCivic Public Affairs Manager Brian Todd said his company's mission is to help the government fix problems it can't handle alone.
"We know this is a highly charged, emotional issue for many people, but the fact is the services we provide help the government solve problems in ways it could not do alone – to help create safer communities by assisting with the current immigration challenges, dramatically improve the standard of care for vulnerable people, and meet other critical needs efficiently and innovatively."
Law enforcement officials have raised concerns in the past, particularly by Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, when Oklahoma was pushing its efforts to criminalize unlawful presence.
And the problem hasn't come up since, even as immigration detentions seem to pick up across Oklahoma and the country, and other law enforcement agencies initiate cooperative agreements with ICE.
