Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
For-profit prisons have been marketed as a cheap solution to prison overcrowding, but they wouldn't exist without the foundations of slavery, convict leasing, prison plantations, the war on drugs, the war on terror, and now, immigration detention. This is the story of private, for-profit prisons in America.
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Leave a tip: paypal.me/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/grockallschmidt.bsky.social
Sources
Bauer, S. (2019). American prison: A reporter's undercover journey into the business of punishment. New York: Penguin Books.
Blackmon, D. A. (2013). Slavery by another name: The re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Anchor Books.
pbs.org/show/slavery-another-name
blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2021/06/convict-leasing-system
motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/history-of-americas-private-prison-industry-timeline
austinchronicle.com/news/plantations-to-prison-farms-how-far-have-we-come-12946341
time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industry
lithub.com/the-straight-line-from-slavery-to-private-prisons
themarshallproject.org/2015/05/01/prison-plantations
texasstandard.org/stories/texas-plantation-prisons-history-forced-labor-tdcj-farms-convict-leasing
searchablemuseum.com/black-codes/#black-codes-after-the-civil-war
https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/timeline/slavery.htm#:~:text=Civil%20War%20began.-,The%201860%20census%20showed%20the%20black%20population%20of%20the%20United,were%20enslaved%20and%20488%2C070%20free.&text=1863%20January%201-,President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the%20Emancipation%20Proclamation%2C%20which%20made%20it,slavery%20in%20the%20United%20States
aaihs.org/convict-leasing-in-the-fami-ly/#:~:text=This%20system%20of%20racial%20capitalism%20was%20akin,and%20discipline%20convicts%20on%20their%20own%20terms
georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/bourbon-triumvirate
https://www.columbusstate.edu/archives/_docs/gah/1990/117-125.pdf
https://www.columbusstate.edu/archives/_docs/gah/1990/117-125.pdf
Convict Leasing After Slavery
picturingblackhistory.org/convict-leas-ing/#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20through%20the%20work%20of%20Black%20activists,did%20not%20end%20the%20practice%20until%201928
canyonvista.com/blog/is-there-link-joblessness-addiction
https://spia.princeton.edu/news/princeton-policy-advocacy-clinic-students-release-analysis-federal-crack-powder-cocaine
civilrights.org/blog/americas-war-on-drugs-50-years-later/#
drugabusestatistics.org/drug-related-crime-statistics
washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about
opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=G7000
migrationpolicy.org/article/profiting-enforcement-role-private-prisons-us-immigration-detention
nilc.org/articles/the-2025-reconciliation-bill-allows-private-prison-execs-to-cash-in-on-cruelty
stateline.org/2025/04/11/for-profit-immigration-detention-expands-as-trump-accelerates-his-deportation-plans
nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/us-to-phase-out-use-of-private-prisons-for-federal-inmates.html
abcnews.go.com/US/private-prison-firms-contributed-1m-trumps-reelection-now/story?id=116046776
prisonlegalnews.org/in-the-news/2017/pln-quoted-re-private-prison-industry
brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/private-prison-companies-enormous-windfall-who-stands-gain-ice-expands
opensecrets.org/news/2025/04/private-prison-companies-positioned-to-benefit-from-increased-deportations
nytimes.com/2018/10/01/us/prisons-immigration-detention.html
prismreports.org/2025/10/23/private-prison-executives-revel-in-ice-arrests
theappeal.org/geo-group-earnings-mass-deportations
brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/what-trumps-victory-means-private-prison-industry
wusf.org/politics-issues/2026-02-09/migrants-languish-in-us-detention-centers-facing-dire-conditions-and-prolonged-waits
ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/05/2015_Banking_on_Detention_DWN_CCR.pdf
azmirror.com/2025/04/08/ice-director-envisions-amazon-like-mass-deportation-system-prime-but-with-human-beings
mlive.com/news/2026/02/owner-of-michigan-ice-detention-center-reported-254m-profit-last-year.html
theappeal.org/ice-geo-group-corecivic-profits
investors.geogroup.com/news-releases/news-release-details/geo-group-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results
For-profit prisons have been marketed as a cheap solution to prison overcrowding, but they wouldn't exist without the foundations of slavery, convict leasing, prison plantations, the war on drugs, the war on terror, and now, immigration detention. This is the story of private, for-profit prisons in America.
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Leave a tip: paypal.me/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/grockallschmidt.bsky.social
Sources
Bauer, S. (2019). American prison: A reporter's undercover journey into the business of punishment. New York: Penguin Books.
Blackmon, D. A. (2013). Slavery by another name: The re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Anchor Books.
pbs.org/show/slavery-another-name
blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2021/06/convict-leasing-system
motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/history-of-americas-private-prison-industry-timeline
austinchronicle.com/news/plantations-to-prison-farms-how-far-have-we-come-12946341
time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industry
lithub.com/the-straight-line-from-slavery-to-private-prisons
themarshallproject.org/2015/05/01/prison-plantations
texasstandard.org/stories/texas-plantation-prisons-history-forced-labor-tdcj-farms-convict-leasing
searchablemuseum.com/black-codes/#black-codes-after-the-civil-war
https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/timeline/slavery.htm#:~:text=Civil%20War%20began.-,The%201860%20census%20showed%20the%20black%20population%20of%20the%20United,were%20enslaved%20and%20488%2C070%20free.&text=1863%20January%201-,President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the%20Emancipation%20Proclamation%2C%20which%20made%20it,slavery%20in%20the%20United%20States
aaihs.org/convict-leasing-in-the-fami-ly/#:~:text=This%20system%20of%20racial%20capitalism%20was%20akin,and%20discipline%20convicts%20on%20their%20own%20terms
georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/bourbon-triumvirate
https://www.columbusstate.edu/archives/_docs/gah/1990/117-125.pdf
https://www.columbusstate.edu/archives/_docs/gah/1990/117-125.pdf
Convict Leasing After Slavery
picturingblackhistory.org/convict-leas-ing/#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20through%20the%20work%20of%20Black%20activists,did%20not%20end%20the%20practice%20until%201928
canyonvista.com/blog/is-there-link-joblessness-addiction
https://spia.princeton.edu/news/princeton-policy-advocacy-clinic-students-release-analysis-federal-crack-powder-cocaine
civilrights.org/blog/americas-war-on-drugs-50-years-later/#
drugabusestatistics.org/drug-related-crime-statistics
washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about
opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=G7000
migrationpolicy.org/article/profiting-enforcement-role-private-prisons-us-immigration-detention
nilc.org/articles/the-2025-reconciliation-bill-allows-private-prison-execs-to-cash-in-on-cruelty
stateline.org/2025/04/11/for-profit-immigration-detention-expands-as-trump-accelerates-his-deportation-plans
nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/us-to-phase-out-use-of-private-prisons-for-federal-inmates.html
abcnews.go.com/US/private-prison-firms-contributed-1m-trumps-reelection-now/story?id=116046776
prisonlegalnews.org/in-the-news/2017/pln-quoted-re-private-prison-industry
brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/private-prison-companies-enormous-windfall-who-stands-gain-ice-expands
opensecrets.org/news/2025/04/private-prison-companies-positioned-to-benefit-from-increased-deportations
nytimes.com/2018/10/01/us/prisons-immigration-detention.html
prismreports.org/2025/10/23/private-prison-executives-revel-in-ice-arrests
theappeal.org/geo-group-earnings-mass-deportations
brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/what-trumps-victory-means-private-prison-industry
wusf.org/politics-issues/2026-02-09/migrants-languish-in-us-detention-centers-facing-dire-conditions-and-prolonged-waits
ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/05/2015_Banking_on_Detention_DWN_CCR.pdf
azmirror.com/2025/04/08/ice-director-envisions-amazon-like-mass-deportation-system-prime-but-with-human-beings
mlive.com/news/2026/02/owner-of-michigan-ice-detention-center-reported-254m-profit-last-year.html
theappeal.org/ice-geo-group-corecivic-profits
investors.geogroup.com/news-releases/news-release-details/geo-group-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results
