CoreCivic private prison corporation runs eight detention and immigration centers under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Monday demonstrators targeted CoreCivic’s Nashville, Tennessee headquarters. [See Vermont CoreCivic connection below*.]
TheHill.com: Police in Nashville, Tenn., arrested 19 people on Monday after they blocked the entrance of the headquarters of a private prison company that operates migrant detention centers.
Demonstrators from the No Exceptions Prison Collective arrived around 5 a.m. to protest at the headquarters of CoreCivic, which operates eight detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The activists linked their arms through heavy barrels, and one protester suspended themselves 25-feet in the air on a swing-like seat using a large stand.
Folks of a certain age may recall how in 1967 DOW Chemical, the manufacturer of napalm for U.S. military use in Viet Nam, was targeted on college campus by students and activists. In demonstrations — sit-ins and marches — they called for an end to the presence of that company’s job recruiters on campus and for universities to cease investing in DOW Chemical stocks. Organizers at Harvard blockaded a Dow recruiter in an office for 7 hours, and similar such stories were commonplace on campuses across the US. Protests did not stop investment or campus recruitment — but perhaps weary of disruptions and bad PR, DOW ended production of napalm in 1969.
In the present frenzied political environment, it impossible to predict what effect the “abolish ICE” movement may have toward the goal of curtailing widespread DHS immigration abuses at private prisons. But it is worth remembering the for-profit nature of these prison corporations. If/when their sacred bottom line suffers, CoreCivic’s ultimate loyalty is only to profits for shareholders and not to ICE or to the administration whose policies it carries out.
The question is, would abolishing ICE just funnel more money to private operators like CoreCivic? Or would it have a strong enough negative affect on the company’s bottom line to prompt its recreation in a different line of work? And if not, what actions would affect CoreCivic’s bottom line?
*Vermont CoreCivic connection: After being lobbied last year by CoreCivic officials Governor Scott and his administration were reportedly considering partnering with the prison business to build a 925-bed prison in Vermont, specifically in Franklin County. That project is currently reported to be on hold after negative feedback from the public and virtually every public official and legislator, regardless of political affiliation.
