Private Prisons Aren't the Only Companies Making a Fortune Off Immigration Detention David Leveille - PRI's The World
go to original March 17, 2017

Unlike President Donald Trump’s refugee and travel ban, which is now stalled in the courts, the crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the US is ramping up.



That could mean we'll see more people being sent to detention centers. For some companies, more detained immigrants mean more business.

But it's not just private prisons that stand to profit. Business is booming for a US company that bails out undocumented immigrants, and some clients are now alleging fraud.

“Few companies have benefited from the country’s broken immigration system like Libre,” reporter Michael Miller writes in The Washington Post.

Libre by Nexus launched in 2014 and has grown from a regional business in Virginia to a national bail-bond company focused on immigration detention.

“An unprecedented immigration court backlog of more than 540,000 cases, fueled by the Central American refu­gee crisis and coupled with soaring immigration bond prices means that many detainees eligible for bail choose between spending many months behind bars or paying Libre’s fees," Miller explains. "More than 12,500 have chosen Libre, which contends it is providing a much-needed service.”

Just like accused offenders in the criminal justice system, many undocumented immigrants in detention are eligible for bail. Unlike US citizens, they must pay their bond in full. Most can't. They simply don’t have the funds.

Enter Libre.

The company works with bond agencies to set up a schedule of payments and provides clients with GPS trackers to wear when they're released. The devices, which come with hefty monthly rental charges, reassure bond agencies that Libre's clients won't run. And there are problems with the scheme.

Read the rest at PRI's The World

Related: Immigrant Detainees Sue Private Prison Company, Alleging Forced Labor (The Los Angeles Times)

Related: Trump’s Immigration Order Has Investors Buying Prison Bonds (Daily Caller)

Related: President Trump, How Will You Handle Cases of Abuse at Privately Run Prisons and Immigration Detention Centers? (PRI's The World)

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