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Back in January, the jobs picture in
Eloy, Arizona wasn't looking so good. Thanks to federal budget
cuts, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced it would cancel a
contract with the town's biggest employer, the Corrections Corporation
of America (CCA) at a cost of 300 jobs.
Today, however, the jobs picture is much improved. Not only
did CCA manage to save the jobs at the Eloy Detention Center
by picking up a contract to detain 1,500 male "noncitizens"
for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the giant
prison contractor has also broken ground on two new projects
in Eloy that will together import about 3,500 new prisoners from
Alaska and Hawaii.
"This means an awful lot
to the city. It opens more job opportunities for people in the
region," said Eloy Mayor Byron Jackson in a dispatch filed
by reporter Eli J. Long of the Arizona Daily Star.
In addition to Eloy's three
prisons, CCA already manages two prisons in the nearby town of
Florence that together import nearly 4,000 prisoners from ICE,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Marshals
Service (USMS), US Air Force, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pascua
Yaqui Tribe. When all five prisons of Pinal County are up and
running, they will bring a total of 2,000 jobs.
"Our contracts create
predictable revenue streams," brags the CCA investor report
for Q1 2006. And the news does look good for investors. The
prison industry is not much affected by economic downturns; 93.3
percent of the market share is yet to be privatized; overcrowding
is pervasive; and demographic trends "point to higher prison
populations."
In addition to these favorable
trends for investors, CCA points to "strong federal demand
substantially driven by an increasing emphasis on border security"
(CCA Q1 investor report 2006, pdf page 10.)
By "increasing emphasis,"
CCA means increasing funds. To hold more prisoners, Congress
has given USMS a 38 percent increase in detention funding, good
for about 5,000 new beds. ICE is getting another $90 million
for new cells, too.
"This represents the third
consecutive year of increased funding to ICE and USMS,"
announces CCA in a blue box filled with bold red italics. So
you see, Congress has been addressing somebody's needs. But
there's more, because the President also has taken action in
time to make the Q1 pdf.
"On May 15, 2006, President
Bush requested $1.948 billion in emergency funding to help secure
America's borders," heralds the May 30 report from CCA.
That emergency money is supposed to include 4,000 prison beds
more.
Then, if you look at the schedule
for FY 2007, things get even better for CCA investors. The USMS
will be looking at another funding increase of $110 million for
prisoner detention, which sounds pretty good until you look at
ICE, which is even better, because ICE is looking at a $700 million
increase in funds, which will translate into anywhere from 4,780
to 6,700 new beds for immigration prisoners alone.
"Although the ultimate
form of a comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill is not certain
at this time," reports CCA once again in red italics, "the
Company believes any bill ultimately passed will provide for
substantial increases in the arrest and detention of illegal
immigrants crossing the US border with Mexico." And why
should we not believe the company?
But CCA is not yet finished
with the prospects of federal demand for prisoners, because it's
not all about immigrants, you know. There are 190,000 prisoners
in the BOP; the agency is running 34 percent over capacity; and
for plain ole U.S. Citizens, it will need at least another 30,000
beds before 2011. Funding for this need will be forthcoming.
The CCA isn't worried about that.
Factor in only one thing more,
that the CCA's preference for warmer climates of the South and
Southwest tends to "mute" the impacts of rising energy
prices, and you have the total picture: "Superior returns
on investment," says the bullet point, "The Company
is able to generate unleveraged, pre-tax returns on new real
estate investments of between 13-15 percent of cost at a stabilized
occupancy of 95 percent."
Which brings us back to Pinal
County and the obvious pun. Just put your money on the table.
CCA and the feds will stabilize the prison occupancy. Ask not
for whom the beds are built. Whether you're a CCA investor or
not, either way you're guaranteed a secure place to sleep.
Greg Moses is editor of the Texas Civil Rights
Review and author of Revolution of Conscience: Martin Luther
King, Jr. and the Philosophy of Nonviolence. He can be reached
at gmosesx@prodigy.net
(an email service now provided
by the snooper coalition of Yahoo and AT&T)
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