CCA Immigration Detention Center may be built in Florida

I found this to be an interesting turn of events especially since the immigration center will be run by CCA, which is a private prison company.

floridaindependent.com...

Two staff members from the office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Pembroke Pines, will be at tomorrow’s meeting between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and residents of southwest Broward County, at which they will discuss an immigration detention center scheduled to be built nearby. A representative from the Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison company set to build and manage the center, will also attend. CCA’s attendance had previously not been confirmed.

Residents of Pembroke Pines and the town of Southwest Ranches have voiced their opposition to the federally funded and privately managed detention center.

In a community meeting in early October, residents released an April 2011 letter in which Sen. Bill Nelson and Wasserman Schultz stated their support for “the application by the Town of Southwest Ranches, Florida, in response to the ‘Request for IGSA Concept Proposal: Miami’ issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

“We’ve maed it clear that the process had to be more open in order to make sure that all of the concerns of the residents were heard and listened to,” Beeton says. “We would hope that people at that meeting would be open to suggestions on how to lessen the impact on residents.”

Evidently the meeting was at 10am this morning. The residents are certainly against this compound being built. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Frankly, I'm for cracking down on illegal immigration, but I'm against any privately run prisons or detention centers. It seems as though there's too much opportunity for abuse, corruption, and even some wierd experimental stuff that can be implemented.

Your thoughts?

Illegals take the risk and frequently pay the consequences of being illegal. Are they building this center there because there is a great need for it?

reply to post by Night Star


Well, this is Florida after all. There's plenty of illegals here.
I just won't subscribe to the old saying "I wasn't a Jew, so I didn't say anything".

There have been numerous aggregious crimes committed within these private prisons and I hate to see anyone being put into a place where they are not going to be treated well. Why build such a center anyways? It should be simply treated as a temporary depot before they're deported. I hope this is what it's going to be. I certainly would hate to see it turn into an "indefinite detention" center like Abu Graib.

Most of the people in the area against it being built don't want it built because the don't want thier property values tanked.

Here's an update of the situation in Florida with private prisons.

Senator: Legislature ‘rushing’ bill so ‘two major private prison companies can add to their profits’

floridaindependent.com...

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, says that Florida legislators are “rushing” their prison privatization plans so that “private prison companies can add to their profits.”

Fasano was among the most visibly upset legislators yesterday as a Senate budget committee passed a prison privatization bill in its last committee stop without public testimony from experts. Dozens of individuals who traveled to Tallahassee to speak against the bill were unable to appeal to legislators before lawmakers cast their votes for the bill.

Corrections officers, labor groups and public policy experts have expressed concern over the state’s plans. They warned legislators that prison privatization would threaten public safety and put corrections employees out of work. Many testifiers warned that private prison companies use inferior training and policies for their employees, and cut corners to save money.

During debate yesterday, Fasano asked committee leaders for exact numbers about the fiscal impact of the privatization plan.

J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, who chairs the committee, told Fasano that the “bill requires a minimum of 7 percent savings,” which would amount to $20-$40 million in savings.

But Fasano countered by saying that estimates at this point in the legislative process are inappropriate.

“We are at the budget committee now,” he told committee leaders. “This is the last stop. … This is something that should be exact.”

I encourage everyone to visit the link to read the entire article. This is a very important issue. I believe that Florida is a testing ground for private prisons. Considering the fact that many undesireables come to Florida to escape the law in other states and Florida has a large population of illegals, I believe that this is what they figure is the perfect place to begin prison privatization. Once it is tested and approved here, it will quickly move on to other states. This is dangerous, folks. It paves the way for indefinite incarceration (NDAA) as well as practices that will violate the Constitution's standings against cruel and unusual punishments.

Please keep your eyes and ears open in your state. Especially if you live in California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. I believe prisons will be privatized quite swiftly. They have a lot of investors and the lobbyists are pushing hard. I don't feel I need to mention how much money is in this business. Just read the article and spread the word that this is not a good idea and will be done in the name of the all mighty dollar.