The publicly traded company \u2014 <\/b>formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America \u2014 has posted online ads seeking administrative workers to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago and at ICE\u2019s Broadview facility<\/a>, which is used to temporarily hold detained immigrants. <\/p>\n The Broadview center is where demonstrators recently have been hit with rubber bullets and pepper powder while protesting the Trump administration\u2019s continued immigration \u201cblitz.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, is among facilities owned by the for-profit prison company CoreCivic. Attorneys for the city of Leavenworth said the company operated an overcrowded, violent \u201chell hole\u201d in the jail and are suing to prevent its reopening for ICE detainees.<\/p>\n CoreCivic and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, won\u2019t say how many people the company is aiming to hire for the $37-an-hour positions.<\/p>\n CoreCivic operates<\/a> 43 correctional and detention centers that have a total 65,000 beds. It also runs 21 so-called reentry centers with another 10,000 beds. <\/p>\n The company, which is more than 40 years old, reported stellar financial results last month, with second quarter revenue of more than $538 million \u2014 up about 10% from the same quarter last year.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreasing demand for the solutions we provide, particularly from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, contributed to a strong second quarter, as nationwide detention populations under ICE custody reached an all-time high,\u201d said Damon T. Hininger, CoreCivic\u2019s chief executive officer.<\/p>\n CoreCivic spokesman Brian Todd said the company \u201cplays a limited but important role in America\u2019s immigration system\u201d and helps the government reduce costs.<\/p>\n Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE has \u201ca long-standing relationship\u201d with CoreCivic that has stretched through the Obama and Biden administrations. McLaughlin said the federal government wants to partner with Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, \u201cto open the next state ICE facility \u2014 but he\u2019d rather murderers, pedophiles, rapists and gang members be loose on Illinois streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Public enforcement, private contracts<\/p>\n CoreCivic is primed to cash in on the budget bill Trump signed in July<\/a> that appropriated $75 billion for ICE, tripling the agency\u2019s annual spending and making it the country\u2019s biggest law enforcement agency.<\/p>\n Lauren-Brooke Eisen, senior director of the justice program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a report published Wednesday that private prison companies like CoreCivic have long been integral to immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is critical to acknowledge that if these corporations didn\u2019t exist it would be difficult for the federal government to execute its plans,\u201d Eisen wrote in Just Security, a law and policy journal. \u201cAnd when this giant infusion of funding for ICE ramps up the U.S. government capacity to detain, transport and deport people, it will be difficult to dismantle, even if future administrations seek to wind down this agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A federal agent watches a transport vehicle leave the parking lot of the ICE processing facility in Broadview Sept. 21.<\/p>\n Jim Vondruska\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n In a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in May, CoreCivic noted the business opportunity provided by Trump\u2019s \u201cProtecting the American People Against Invasion\u201d executive order, which requires an increase in immigration enforcement in interior states like Illinois.<\/p>\n The company also pointed out that Trump signed a law that requires ICE to detain immigrants accused of burglary, theft, assault of a law enforcement officer or killing or injuring another person. ICE has estimated the mandatory detention requirement of the law could require 60,000 to 110,000 additional detention beds, according to the company.<\/p>\n The job postings for \u201ccase processing specialist\u201d positions in the Chicago area call for college-educated applicants who are bilingual and have at least one year of experience \u201cin criminal justice, corrections or a related field.\u201d<\/p>\n The administrative workers will obtain and compile detainees\u2019 criminal records, process immigration cases and help facilitate interviews, court hearings and deportations, according to the postings. That includes organizing and preparing removal documents and coordinating with ICE to schedule flights.<\/p>\n Todd says \u201cCoreCivic does not enforce immigration laws, arrest anyone who may be in violation of immigration laws or have any say whatsoever in an individual\u2019s deportation or release.\u201d<\/p>\n Big campaign contributions<\/p>\n In its SEC filing, CoreCivic disclosed that a jury in April awarded almost $28 million to an inmate assaulted by another inmate at a company facility in Montana. The company said it planned to appeal.<\/p>\n CoreCivic also said it\u2019s cooperating with a Justice Department civil rights investigation of conditions at a Tennessee correctional center the company owns and operates.<\/p>\n The company has paid $4.4 million to settle nearly 80 lawsuits and complaints involving accusations of mistreatment, including 22 inmate deaths, at four Tennessee prisons and two jails from 2016 through mid-2024, the Associated Press has reported, with Tennessee\u2019s state corrections agency having fined the company more than $44 million.<\/p>\n Todd said CoreCivic has \u201cworked closely with the Tennessee Department of Corrections to identify and implement policies and processes that enhance safety and security while providing meaningful programs and services geared towards helping the individuals in our care prepare for successful reentry.\u201d<\/p>\n Separately, the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, is suing CoreCivic to prevent it from reopening a vacant jail to house more than 1,000 ICE detainees. That city\u2019s attorneys have said the company had operated an overcrowded, violent \u201chell hole\u201d in the jail. CoreCivic has filed a countersuit, saying Leavenworth is violating its right to carry out its contract with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n CoreCivic used the jail mostly to house federal detainees awaiting trial under a contract with the Marshals Service. Poor living conditions there were cited in a 2017 Justice Department inspector general\u2019s audit<\/a>. The facility has been empty since 2021 because of President Joe Biden\u2019s executive order banning the use of private prisons by the Justice Department.<\/p>\n Todd said the company doesn\u2019t \u201ccut corners on care, staff or training, which meets, and in many cases exceeds, our government partners\u2019 standards.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaughlin said: <\/b>\u201cICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.\u201d<\/p>\n CoreCivic\u2019s political action committee, CoreCivic PAC, has spent more than $1.4 million since 2015, federal election records show.<\/p>\n The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee have been among the biggest recipients of the PAC\u2019s political contributions over the last decade. CoreCivic also gave $500,000 to Trump\u2019s inaugural committee in December, according to federal election records.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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