Biden Orders DOJ to End Contracts with Private Prisons Holding Foreign Convicts
Reinstates Obama-era policy as part of 'racial equity' agenda
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Joe Biden has ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to cancel contracts the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) holds with private prisons across the United States.
However, the BOP contracts impacted by the move are with privately-managed prisons that almost entirely hold foreign nationals convicted of federal crimes in America.
The move has been billed as a “racial equity” initiative by the White House.
The policy change was part of a fresh set of four additional executive orders that the Democrat signed on Tuesday.
In a statement, Biden said he wanted to eliminate alleged institutional discrimination within federal agencies.
“No one should be profiteering off of our criminal justice system,” Biden tweeted on Tuesday evening.
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“That’s why today, I ordered the Department of Justice to end the use of private prisons by the federal government,” Biden added.
No one should be profiteering off of our criminal justice system. That’s why today, I ordered the Department of Justice to end the use of private prisons by the federal government.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 26, 2021
Altogether, foreign convicts make up nearly 17 percent of the federal prison population, a total of more than 25,000, and most are from Mexico and Central America, according to Breitbart.
Currently, nearly 14,000 of those foreign convicts are held in the privately-managed prisons contracted by the BOP.
The 11 privately-managed prisons include nine that are operated by the GEO Group, including three facilities that are already set to close within the next few months.
The eight remaining privately-managed prisons’ contracts are set to expire later this year and in 2022.
Biden’s order ensures none of those contracts up for renewal will be renewed.
Biden’s order “is a solution in search of a problem,” a spokesperson with GEO Group told Breitbart News in a statement:
For more than three decades, our company has provided high-quality services under a private-public partnership with the BOP.
During this timeframe, our facilities, which are newer and more modern than the generally older government-run prisons, have helped the BOP meet the significant overcrowding challenges facing the federal prison system.
Our facilities have almost exclusively housed non-citizen criminal aliens convicted of federal crimes, thus allowing government-run facilities to care for U.S. citizens without significant overcrowding challenges.
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White House domestic policy advisor Susan Rice said this was “just the beginning.”
She confirmed that the order does not apply to private federal immigration prisons under contract with other agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Rice reportedly said the order is “silent on what may or may not transpire with ICE facilities.”
Biden’s campaign website indicated he would “end for-profit centers” that house unlawfully present immigrants if elected.
“The order signed today is an important first step toward acknowledging the harm that has been caused and taking actions to repair it, but President Biden has an obligation to do more, especially given his history and promises,” said David Fathi, director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project.
