ZNet: "Split off from HB 4437, a provision calling for 700 miles of border fencing (really a triple barrier wall) was signed into law by Bush in the run-up to the November mid-term elections.
"The big prison privatizers are, of course, gung ho for Sensenbrenner and its various legislative offshoots such as the 'Safe Border Act' if enacted, they are going to get fat on the hapless new arrivals. Whereas Kennedy-McCain does promise 2.2 million deportations of undocumented workers with less than five years U.S. residence, repatriation would be voluntary pending registration in a legal guest worker program and would involve no detention time.
"On the other side of the ledger, the private prison czars figure that if the hardnosed provisions of HB 4437 become the law of the land, the federal government is going to need about 27,000 new beds each day over the next 18 months although at $95 a night in detention costs, Motel Six would seem to be a cheaper fix then private detention centers. Nonetheless, prospects of juicy contracts to come have the industry salivating.
"The privatization of the detention side of the prison-industrial complex has been expanding exponentially since the new millennium kicked in - in the past six years, eight out of 16 federal immigration detention facilities have fallen into private hands. Moreover, 57% of all so-called 'illegal aliens' are now housed in county jails far away from the border, about a fifth of which are administered by the privatizers."
"2008 pres"
6:27:35 AM 
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