The Economics of Incarceration: Detention Capitalism Is Here, No One Is Safe.

As the US becomes an authoritarian dictatorship wielding all instruments of fear it possibly can, reports in mainstream news networks have begun flooding in of tourists with valid US visas being detained for lengthy periods for no valid reason:

Lucas from Germany, 16 days detention

Jasmine from Canada, 12 days detention

And this: French scientist denied US entry after his phone was searched for posts criticizing the silencing of science by Trump.

And of course, there are the hundreds of “disappeared” people that ICE has abducted, deported or detained in undisclosed locations.  We have no idea what is happening to these people, but I’ll tell you this:  If Lucas was detained literally in chains and is a European, white citizen, imagine what happens to non-Europeans and non-whites.  If Jasmine was able to mobilise a substantial family and friends support system to get out of jail and STILL couldn’t avoid 12 days detention under inhumane conditions, imagine what happens to people without a support system or communication with the outside world.  They stay in there for weeks, months.

As one country after another warn their citizens to not visit the fascist shithole that the US is becoming, there is one tiny detail which may not be mentioned as widely in the news:  that this is all a business. 

There is an entire economic machine which drives long detentions for people.  CoreCivic and GEO Group, two of the prison management companies, receive government contracts which incentivize them not only to detain people, but to keep them detained.  The longer they are detained, the more money these companies make.  This is the most blatant monetization of the encroachment on human rights.  Detention has become a business in fascist America, but this isn’t new.  The entire prison system is a business, and activists from the Black community have been trying to highlight this for years.  Now that whites and Europeans are being targeted, this is an opportunity to bring fresh light onto a system none of us are safe from:  black, white, US citizens or not.

As someone who has worked in Amnesty International for years, I can also tell you that the death penalty is incredibly lucrative as well, all paid by the taxpayer.  How long before they make money off of murder?

George is an author, researcher, molecular biologist and food scientist.

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