2 Private Prison Companies With NJ Ties May Score Big Profits From Trump Deportations

NEW JERSEY — The nation’s two largest private prison companies are poised to rake in big profits from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a report says – and both have heavy presences in New Jersey.

The GEO Group, which is valued at $4 billion, and CoreCivic, which is valued at $2.2 billion, are part of a massive industry that is expected to grow significantly while President Donald Trump is in office, Open Secrets reported this week.

CoreCivic runs the Elizabeth Detention Center in Union County, and is paid to house federal immigration detainees there for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Meanwhile, the GEO Group is seeking to reopen an ICE detention facility that previously operated at Delaney Hall in Newark. The 1,000-bed facility will be the first federal detention center to open under Trump’s second term.

According to Open Secrets, the GEO Group spent $1.38 million lobbying the federal government in 2024, and CoreCivic spent $1.77 million. Much of their focus was the appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the budget for ICE.

The day after Trump was reelected to his second term, the companies’ stock prices soared: GEO Group’s by about 41 percent and CoreCivic’s by nearly 29 percent.

Read the full article here.

NEW JERSEY PRISON BAN

Trump has argued that a nationwide crackdown is needed to push back against a “large-scale invasion” of illegal immigration.

The president didn’t waste any time making his first moves. On the first day of his second term, the White House announced a sweeping wave of presidential actions and executive orders, including several involving immigration.

“Over the last four years, the United States has endured a large-scale invasion at an unprecedented level,” Trump said. “Millions of illegal aliens from nations and regions all around the world successfully entered the United States where they are now residing.”

“This cannot stand,” the president continued.

ICE’s expansion efforts in the Garden State have faced stiff opposition from immigration advocates in New Jersey, however, who have pointed to a state law that bans all prisons – private or public – from making new contracts with ICE to hold federal detainees.

The law has seen pushback since Gov. Phil Murphy signed it in 2021.

The GEO Group and CoreCivic – which runs the Elizabeth Detention Center in Union County – have challenged the state ban in court. The administration of former president Joe Biden took the side of private prison companies in that case, arguing that ICE needed detention centers near airports to expedite operations. A judge ruled in 2023 that CoreCivic could keep its jail in Elizabeth open.

Federal authorities and prison companies are now seeking to add more detention space in New Jersey, despite the ban.

Although the focus on federal immigration enforcement has ramped up since Trump took office, ICE raids also took place in New Jersey during Biden’s watch. Read More: NJ Activists Say Biden’s Playbook On Immigration Is Similar To Trump’s

A major immigration sweep took place in North Jersey the week before Trump’s inauguration, with ICE’s Newark field office arresting 33 non-citizens who have committed or been accused of crimes. Read More: Newark ICE Office Makes 33 Arrests, Deportations Loom

DELANEY HALL

Earlier this year, ICE officials confirmed plans to “reopen” Delaney Hall in Newark, which formerly held immigration detainees until it closed in 2017 and was turned into a halfway house.

According to a statement from the GEO Group, the 15-year, fixed-price contract for Delaney Hall is expected to generate in excess of $60 million in annualized revenues for GEO in the first full year of operations. The company estimated the 15-year value of the contract with normal cost of living adjustments to be approximately $1 billion.

“We are continuing to prepare for what we believe is an unprecedented opportunity to help the federal government meet its expanded immigration enforcement priorities,” GEO Group executive chair George Zoley said.

Immigration advocates have argued otherwise.

Eliana Fernandez, organizing director of Make the Road New Jersey, accused the company of “using detention for profit, not for public safety.”

“Congress and our state elected officials must stop the severe human and constitutional rights violations that ICE raids and ICE detention centers bring,” Fernandez urged. “We have rights under the Constitution, and we’re here to defend them.”

• See Related: Hundreds Protest Against Reopening ICE Detention Facility In NJ

The reopening of Delaney Hall has also seen vocal pushback from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who recently announced that the city has issued a “stop work” order at the facility.

• See Related: Newark Issues 'Stop Work' Order On New ICE Detention Center

The Newark field office is located at 970 Broad Street, and processes federal detainees from across the state. Prior to New Jersey’s ban on ICE contracts took effect, hundreds of people were being arrested and deported from the office every month. Read More: ICE In NJ Deported 500 People From Country In 3 Months, Feds Say

ELIZABETH DETENTION CENTER

ICE awarded CoreCivic its initial contract to operate the Elizabeth Detention Center in 2005. The agreement was renewed several times, until the state passed its ban on ICE contracts – seeing repeated protests from activists along the way.

In July 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of support for the company’s lawsuit, claiming that the contract is “crucial” because of the prison’s close proximity to Newark and JFK airports – both of which host deportation flights out of the country. The ICE facility in Pennsylvania is a four-hour drive from Newark Airport, which would reportedly create 12-hour days for officers.

Several Congress members from New Jersey recently made a surprise visit to the prison in the wake of a controversial ICE raid that happened in Newark. The lawmakers said they were denied access and delayed for nearly an hour before being admitted inside.

• See Related: NJ Prison Gets Surprise Visit From 3 Congress Members Amid ICE Raids

CoreCivic is also trying to use an inactive facility in Leavenworth, Kansas to house federal detainees, arguing that it will help to create "good-paying jobs" while contributing to public safety.

"CoreCivic has committed to paying the city of Leavenworth a one-time impact fee of $1,000,000, a $250,000 annual impact fee, and an additional $150,000 annual impact fee to the police department," the company stated Wednesday.

"This is in addition to the over $1,000,000 in annual property taxes CoreCivic already pays," the company added.

Activists in Kansas have disputed CoreCivic's claims, accusing it of having a "long track record of running facilities rife with dangerous conditions across the country."

UNION COUNTY JAIL

Advocates have also been protesting against the possibility of opening a third immigration detention center in New Jersey – which they say could join the Elizabeth Detention Center as the second such facility in Union County.

In March, the Union County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to begin receiving bids to sell part of the Union County Jail complex, which is “no longer needed for public use.” The county ceased most operations at the jail in 2021.

Advocates said they are worried it will open the door to private companies like the GEO Group and CoreCivic. They aren’t alone in their concerns.

On April 8, the Elizabeth City Council unanimously passed a resolution that calls on the county to prohibit any additional detention centers. Several elected officials have also put out statements in opposition, including U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez Jr., New Jersey Assemblywoman Annette Quijano and Union County Commissioner Sergio Granados, and gubernatorial candidates Ras Baraka and Steven Fulop.

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