Remember my earlier post about following the money involved in catching, holding, processing, and deporting illegal immigrants in Arizona? And how much of that money finds its way to the private prison industry and associated private contractors?
I started following the money in May. Rachel Maddow started following it in August, quickly picking up on close working relationships between private prison industry executives and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Now National Public Radio follows the trail one step closer to the source: the private prison industry itself, busy feathering its own nest:
NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.
The law could send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to prison in a way never done before. And it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to private prison companies responsible for housing them.
And that’s not all. Guess who helped Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce draft S.B. 1070, Arizona’s infamous “show us your papers” law?
Late last year, a secretive group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held a meeting in D.C. for its members, which include state lawmakers, assorted organizations like the NRA, and powerful corporations like ExxonMobil. The billion-dollar Corrections Corporation of America was also on hand, and connected with state Sen. Russell Pearce (R), who’s spearheaded anti-immigrant efforts in Arizona.
A business model was born. As the report explained, “According to Corrections Corporation of America reports reviewed by NPR, executives believe immigrant detention is their next big market.”
So, at the ALEC event, members discussed and debated language, and sent Pearce back to Arizona with a proposal in hand. Four months later, NPR’s piece noted, “that model legislation became, almost word for word, Arizona’s immigration law.”
In case this doesn’t appear quite nefarious enough for you, also note that most of the co-sponsors of SB1070 were attendees to the ALEC event. The Corrections Corporation of America quickly hired a powerful new lobbyist, and 30 of the 36 co-sponsors received donations from prison lobbyists or prison companies.
I swear, all you have to do is scratch the surface of S.B. 1070 and the stench of corruption fills the room. It’s not about illegal immigration, or jobs. It’s about money. Of which there’s plenty for rounding up migrants. But none for teachers.
I want to wash my hands, over and over, like a person with OCD.
– Thanks to Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly for covering the NPR story, which I somehow missed on the radio.