Action Alert: Oppose Detention Center (for Immigrants) Expansion!

Action Alert From Coloradans For Immigrant Rights (CFIR)!!:

As many of you know, the GEO corporation has announced its plans to expand the immigration detention center in Aurora from 400 to 1500 beds. GEO has a poor record on humanitarian treatment in its detention centers across the country and here, in Aurora, CO. Moreover, as we know, most folks held in immigration detention pose no public safety risk, have no criminal record and are being held for civil violations.

Please show your concern about the expansion
by attending a public meeting with The GEO Group:
When: tomorrow, Thursday, December 20, 7pm
Where: Park Lane Elementary School Cafeteria
13001 E. 30th Ave.

We have prepared a fact sheet and questions, to inform the community and keep GEO honest.
Please contact Chandra Russo at chandra.russo@gmail.com or cell: (720) 273-2022 for more information.

PASTED IN GEO FACT SHEET & QUESTIONS HERE:

READ ABOUT THE FACTS
Oppose The GEO Group’s proposed facility expansion in Aurora, Colorado

Who is The GEO Group
 The GEO Group is a multinational, private corporation that works in the corrections and detention management industry whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
 The company reported 2007 Third Quarter revenue of $267 Million.
 The facility in Aurora, CO contracts with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain men and women who are long-term lawful permanent residents, wrongfully detained US citizens, refugees, asylum seekers, and others trying to legally immigrate to the US.
 The Aurora facility currently detains 400 or more men and women on a daily basis.

The GEO Group has a spotty history in running corrections facilities
 During the summer of 2007, the Government Accountability Office cited GEO’s Aurora facility as having poor sanitation, barriers to telephone legal aid, and poor tracking of how long prisoners were held in rooms or if they had been fed.
 GEO has closed prisons in Jena, Louisiana and Coke County, Texas, after being sited for horrendous treatment of male and female juveniles.
 GEO settled a $10 million dollar suit in California after having underpaid its staff.
 GEO improperly offered Colorado Department Of Corrections employee Nolin Renfrow about one million dollars if its prison was approved to be built in Ault, CO.

The US Government needs to stop supporting the development of the private prison industry
 Private corporations such as The GEO Group and others are making billions off of imprisoning and detaining people across the country.
 Private corporations have little interest in rehabilitating inmates. To the contrary, their profit margin depends on people being incarcerated.
 Decisions on how facilities are operated, built, and expanded are determined by stock value and their financial bottom line – with little regard for the human costs & the impact on neighborhoods in which they operate.
 Corporations have strong lobbyist power in DC and local politicians to look out for their own interests.

The American justice system needs to stop putting people behind bars
 The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. 1 in every 133 US residents was in jail as of June 2006.
 The US Immigration Detention system has tripled in size in the last 10 years, with over 28,000 people detained daily.
 Families are being torn apart & US citizen children, spouses and other family members are struggling.

The American justice system needs to stop being selective about its laws
 Due process is being violated daily for the over 230,000 men, women and children who are being held in jail-like conditions in immigration detention across the country.
 Unlike in the criminal justice system, there are no public defenders for the long-term lawful permanent residents, wrongfully detained citizens, refugees, asylees and others trying to immigrate to the US.
 84 percent of the nation’s detained population is forced to face a judge and prosecuting attorney without any expert legal knowledge of US laws and are not represented by an attorney.

Immigration Detention is costly for the US Taxpayer
 The US government pays $95 per day per person in detention, totaling $1.2 billion per year.
 Often the primary breadwinner is detained – forcing US citizen families to drop out of school, work multiple jobs, and/or rely on social services and local community networks for support.

Men, women & children are in immigration detention only for civil violations – NOT criminal charges
 Half of all immigrants in detention have no criminal record at all, while the rest may have committed minor offenses such as petty shoplifting. They pose no public danger.

Alternatives to GEO’s Proposed Expansion exist that are more cost effective and humane
 Alternatives to detention exist where studies have demonstrated to be effective and cost as low as $12 per day – rather than the $95/day to keep people behind bars.
 Colorado has an alternatives program already in place that could be used instead of detaining more people than it already does. This program, ISAP, has men and women wear a tracking ankle bracelet & appear in court.

Stop The GEO Group from expanding its facility
 Families and children as young as a few months old are detained across the country – stopping GEO expand now will prohibit the corporation from being able to detain children and babies in Aurora, CO if they decide to.
 If the 1,100 additional beds are used for immigration detention, it will cost the US taxpayer an estimated $104,500 more per day just for this proposed facility in Aurora, CO. That amounts to over $38 million a year.
 Alternatives to detention such as the ankle bracelet program already being used in Colorado could be used instead for this increase in 1,100 people/day that would only cost $13,200 per day, or $4 million per year.

A larger prison facility in Aurora’s backyard only hurts Coloradans
 An expanded facility may negatively impact real estate values.
 Larger prison and detention facilities do not contribute to the lifestyle of Aurora neighborhoods.
 Communities will be further alienated and divided rather