Penitentiary

Coalition Petitions Homeland Security to End Privatization of Detention Centers

Last Month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will phase out the use of privately operated prisons, citing data that shows for-profit institutions are not as safe or effective as those run directly by the government.

Today (September 28), a coalition of 350 legal rights and progressive organizations—including Color Of Change, Presente,Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Mijente and the American Civil Liberties Union—delivered a petition demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) follow suit and dump its contracts with private corporations.

The petition, signed by more than 250,000 people, was delivered to the DHS office in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with a press conference where former detainees shared their experiences of being in privately-run detention centers.