NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The United States’ largest private prison operator said it can provide the additional detention facilities that will likely be needed under President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration.
In an earnings call this week, CoreCivic President/CEO Damon Hininger identified the possible opportunity to grow its detention business with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
CoreCivic’s statement further indicates that private prison firms think they could profit from a Trump presidency, who has already issued executive orders aimed at detaining and deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Trump is offering a starkly different outlook for the industry than President Barack Obama, whose administration aimed to wind down some private prison use.
Additionally, a high population of immigrants detained in ICE-contracted facilities helped fuel CoreCivic’s fourth-quarter financial gains, Hininger said. That was before Trump took office.