The U.S. Spent $2.2 Billion Buying Immigration Detention Centers, With More to Go

Over two months the Department of Homeland Security bought four lockups in California, Minnesota and Kansas from CoreCivic for a combined $2.2 billion, a shift from leasing to outright federal ownership of detention capacity. The sales grew CoreCivic's cash on hand roughly tenfold, from $109 million at the end of June to $1.1 billion. Immigration advocates warn that federal ownership will place these facilities further beyond local oversight, and NOTUS reported the government is likely to buy more sites from CoreCivic and GEO Group.