The Private Prison Industry (Finally) Faces an Uncertain Future

Donald Trump is a private prison kind of guy. America’s two for-profit titans of incarceration—GEO Group and CoreCivic—pitched in $500,000 for his inauguration. Almost immediately after Trump took office, his Justice Department reversed an Obama-era move to partially phase out federal use of the companies, sending their stocks soaring. As of August, a record 55,000 immigrants languished in detention, mostly in for-profit facilities and many in Texas. Yet, somehow, the future looks murkier than ever for the poor prison profiteers.

Here’s a recent sampling of headlines from Seeking Alpha, a news service for investors: “Bank of America stops lending to private prison operators,” “Democrats’ lead in polls highlights political risks,” and “More shun U.S. private prison financing.”

“It’s taken the Trump administration for many financial institutions and progressive politicians to have the sort of moral compass they always should have had.”