Biden promised but failed to end federal use of private prisons. That’s left the industry ready to cash in big under Trump
CNN
Shares of private prison companies have grown since the election. Those facilities could expand under Trump, despite claims of abuse and mistreatment.
Just over four years ago on the campaign trail, Joe Biden made a bold pledge to voters that as president he would end the federal use of private prisons – facilities where inmates have long complained of abusive treatment. But as he left office last month, his record on that matter fell short: While Biden ended the Bureau of Prison’s contracts with private prisons, he allowed their use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand. Today, because of ICE detainees, the federal government has more people in private prisons than when Biden took office, according to data obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information request and provided to CNN. And Biden’s choice to exempt ICE from his private prison policies did something more: It paved the way for President Donald Trump to quickly expand their use to hold undocumented immigrants. Among the flurry of inauguration day executive orders Trump signed was one overturning Biden’s executive order on private prisons. But long before then, in the waning months of the Biden administration, ICE asked private-prison companies such as Geo Group and CoreCivic, among others, for proposals to expand private-prison capacity this year in at least seven states: California, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas and Washington. That move came despite ongoing allegations of poor conditions and improper treatment of detainees in many private prisons. Shareholders in those companies expect a huge payday under Trump. Between Election Day in November and Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Geo Group shares rose 133% in price, while CoreCivic shares jumped nearly 60%, far outpacing the broader stock market.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.
Young Americans are “a generation under profound strain” with little confidence in institutions and widespread economic concerns, according to a Harvard Institute of Politics survey of adults younger than 30 released Thursday.
As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.
The murder trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023 continues. Follow for live updates.
The FBI arrested a person Thursday who investigators believe planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot.
Lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office are expected to appear in federal court in Albany on Thursday to try to disqualify a US attorney from investigating the state’s civil case against President Donald Trump.
A new poll shows more than 70% of Republicans with Obamacare coverage don’t want their enhanced premium subsidies to expire.
A safety volunteer accused of fatally shooting a man taking part in a “No Kings” protest last June in Salt Lake City while firing at another man he believed to be a potential mass shooter has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The specter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown looms over the Somali diaspora in the Twin Cities – home to the nation’s largest Somali population.