Listen To This Story

The Trump administration’s awarding of massive no-bid contracts to private prison giants CoreCivic (formerly CCA) and the GEO Group is not only a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars but also a glaring example of political favoritism and corruption. 

These companies — among the largest donors to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign — have been rewarded with lucrative government contracts worth tens of millions of dollars under dubious circumstances, all while bypassing competitive bidding and ignoring local opposition.

Campaign Contributions and Political Favoritism

CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger and GEO Group CEO J. Dave Donahue have long been among the top political donors to Trump and the Republican Party. 

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the GEO Group and CoreCivic increased their political spending nearly ninefold in 2024–2025 compared to recent years, spending over $8.9 million. That amount comes close to their combined total from 2000 to 2018, when they spent just over $10 million across nearly two decades.

This sudden explosion of financial support coincides suspiciously with the awarding of no-bid contracts:

• CoreCivic was granted a $4.2 million monthly contract to reopen the Leavenworth, KS, ICE detention center, notorious for violence, abuse, and deplorable conditions.
• The GEO Group secured a $66 million contract to reopen the D. Ray James Facility, a shuttered Folkston, GA, prison, despite ongoing investigations into their past abuses.

Federal contracting regulations usually require competitive bidding to prevent favoritism and ensure taxpayer money is spent efficiently. But under the guise of a “national emergency,” the Trump administration repeatedly circumvented these procedures, awarding contracts directly to these companies without transparency or oversight.

Local Officials Overruled

When city officials in Leavenworth sought to enforce permitting requirements and raise concerns about reopening a facility with a violent history, the federal government intervened, overruling local authorities. This move effectively silenced local voices in favor of corporate interests.

Abuse and Dangerous Conditions

Multiple lawsuits and firsthand employee accounts reveal the abuse at the Leavenworth facility and the ICE Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, TN, and several GEO Group facilities:

• Investigations into sexual assaults were obstructed by CoreCivic management.
• Detainees were locked in showers as punishment.
• The sewage system frequently failed, creating unsanitary conditions.
• Former guards described the environment as “mayhem,” with frequent violent assaults leading to serious injuries.

CoreCivic

• Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, Trousdale County, TN: Over 22 inmate deaths since 2016; investigations into assaults, murders, understaffing; DOJ opened civil rights probe in August 2024.
• Hardeman County Correctional Facility Whiteville, TN: Fatal fight in 2025 killed one inmate, injured five others; staff shortages noted.
• Multiple Tennessee prisons (Trousdale, Hardeman, South Central Correctional Facility, Whiteville Correctional Facility): Twice the homicide rate compared to state prisons; widespread violence and neglect.
• Leavenworth Detention Center Leavenworth, KS: Severe understaffing led to stabbings, suicides, homicides; limited oversight, DOJ/Inspector General audit (2017). 
• Stewart Detention Center (ICE), Lumpkin, GA: Forced labor scheme: detainees paid $1–$5/day under threat of solitary or loss of basic needs; unsanitary “chicken coop” dorms; enforced deprivation tactics.
• Eloy Detention Center (ICE), Eloy, AZ: At least 13 detainee deaths (2004–2016) including multiple suicides; medical care failures and measles outbreak.
• Adams County Correctional Center (ICE), Adams County, MS: DOJ/Inspector General identified chronic understaffing after 2012 riot that killed one officer and injured 20.

The GEO Group

• Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, Walnut Grove, MS: Sexual abuse, violence, neglect, gang-run environment.
• Val Verde Detention Center, Del Rio, TX: Sexual assault, suicide, civil rights violations.

• Adelanto Detention Center, Adelanto, CA: Deaths, nooses, chemical exposure, solitary confinement.
• Northwest Detention Center (ICE), Tacoma, WA: Overcrowding, medical neglect, hunger strikes, guard abuse.

• Multiple GEO Group sites: COVID-19 mismanagement, violence against staff, lack of protective measures.

A Textbook Example of Corruption

When companies that bankroll political campaigns have investigations dismissed, face no oversight, and are awarded lucrative no-bid contracts by the very administrations they support, it exemplifies textbook quid pro quo corruption.

Taxpayer funds are funneled into private prison firms at the expense of ethical governance, public accountability, human dignity, and even political freedom – to be able to protest without being locked up.

The surge in immigration arrests under the Trump administration — driven in part by efforts to fill detention beds — frequently targets noncriminal individuals and political protesters, revealing a profit-driven system that capitalizes on human suffering.

For-Profit Immigration Detention Expands as Trump Accelerates His Deportation Plans

From the Missouri Independent: “Over the next several months, privately operated ICE detention facilities may open in California, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.”

Prison Operator Under Federal Scrutiny Spent Millions Settling Tennessee Mistreatment Claims

The authors write, “The leading private prison company in the U.S. has spent more than $4.4 million to settle dozens of complaints alleging mistreatment — including at least 22 inmate deaths — at its Tennessee prisons and jails since 2016.”

Abuse Claims Are Rife in California Detention Centers. Now the Facilities Are Poised to Expand

The author writes, “California adopted a ‘sanctuary state’ law during Donald Trump’s first term with the goal of obstructing his deportation agenda. The law restricts police from questioning people about their citizenship status and detaining foreign-born residents as well as prohibiting the transfer of certain inmates to immigration authorities. Still, Ice has six detention facilities in California, all operated by private companies.”

Political Activity and Lobbying Report 2023

From CoreCivic: “CoreCivic’s political and government relations activities are designed to educate federal, state and local officials on the benefits of partnership corrections, CoreCivic’s ability to assist them in meeting their needs and our track record of success. Our company does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for or duration of an individual’s incarceration or detention.”

Private Prison Giant GEO Group Ramps Up Lobbying on Immigrant Surveillance

The author writes, “GEO Group, one of the world’s largest private prison companies, is ramping up its lobbying operation as lawmakers in Washington eye budget cuts to ‘alternatives to detention’ programs. The private prison giant spent $690,000 on federal lobbying during the first six months of 2024, more than it spent in the first half of any other year during the Biden administration, according to OpenSecrets’ analysis.”

Today It Locks Up Immigrants. But CoreCivic’s Roots Lie in the Brutal Past of America’s Prisons.

The author writes, “The renewed fortunes and the hidden history of the for-profit prison industry.”

FROM 2015: Solitary Nation

From Front Line: “With extraordinary access, award-winning producer and director Dan Edge (Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown, Kill/Capture, The Wounded Platoon) takes you to the epicenter of the raging debate about prison reform. Solitary Nation brings you an up-close, graphic look at a solitary confinement unit in Maine’s maximum security prison.”

FROM 2015: The Role of For-Profit Prison Corporations in Shaping US Immigrant Detention & Deportation Policies

The author writes, “For-profit corporations, which invest heavily in campaign contributions and lobbying, currently house nearly two-thirds of all immigrant detainees in publicly funded detention centers.2 Expanding grounds for immigrant detention is profitable for them—but imprisoning people to serve a profit motive is clearly wrong. Policymakers need to be accountable to the public they represent, not to the wishes of their campaign donors.”

FROM 2014: Warehoused and Forgotten: Immigrants Trapped in Our Shadow Private Prison System

From the ACLU: “Today, the United States has just 5% of the world’s population but nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners. But it has not always been this way. Thanks to the ‘War on Drugs,’ irrationally harsh sentencing regimes, and a refusal to consider evidence-based alternatives, the U.S. prison population grew by more than 700% between 1970 and 2009 — far outpacing both population growth and crime rates.”