How Biden broke his promise to stop using private prisons for migrants, as detention levels soar

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy When he was running for president, Joe Biden promised to push for an end to detaining migrants in abuse-prone private prisons, declaring, “No business should profit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence.” Two-and-a-half years into his administration, those businesses are seeing a boom in profits, as the Biden administration has increased the share of immigrants held in prisons managed by private companies instead of the federal government. Detainees talk on telephones at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California Private companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic continue to make large fractions of their multi-million dollar revenues from federal immigration detenion contracts. The government continues to rely on private facilities like CoreCivic’s Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico, despite a 2022 DHS inspector general report calling for all detainees to be moved out of the facility, which allegedly suffered from “critical staffing shortages,” safety risks and unsanitary living conditions,” including faulty plumbing and mold. “President Biden is committed to reducing mass incarceration, while making our communities safer and that starts with ending the federal government’s reliance on private prisons.” However, the president made an exception for immigration facilities.