REVENUE OVER REFUGE: Private Equity in Immigrant Detention

The report details how private equity firms profit from the detention and sheltering of immigrants in the United States through contracts for facility management, healthcare, telecommunications, and biometrics. It highlights specific instances of fiscal mismanagement and poor conditions in facilities managed by private equity-backed companies, such as DocGo and GardaWorld. The document also examines the expansion of surveillance through biometric systems like HART and the role of private equity in border militarization and deportation logistics.

• A significant portion of federal immigrant detention facilities rely on private equity-owned service providers, with 63 percent of federally-designated ICE facilities contracting with such companies.
• Private equity-backed companies have secured high-value emergency contracts for migrant shelters in cities like Chicago and New York, often facing allegations of mismanagement and substandard conditions. For example, Chicago paid Favorite Healthcare Staffing over $275 million by August 2024, and a New York City audit of DocGo found hazardous housing conditions including mold and insects.
• The telecommunications market in detention facilities is dominated by private equity-owned firms, specifically ViaPath and Securus, which together control nearly 80 percent of outsourced prison and jail telecommunications contracts.
• The Department of Homeland Security's biometric identity management platform, HART, is now managed by Peraton, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital. The system is expected to cost $6.2 billion and can track nearly 300 million people in real time without their consent.
• Private equity firms are involved in the logistics of deportation and border security. G4S, owned by Warburg Pincus via Allied Universal, had contracts with CBP and ICE totaling $1.05 billion between 2008 and August 2024.
• There is a significant cost disparity between detention and community-based alternatives; detaining an adult costs $164.65 per day, whereas ICE's Alternative to Detention (ATD) programs cost $8 and case management costs $14.05.

APA

Creeks, A. (2024). REVENUE OVER REFUGE: Private Equity in Immigrant Detention. Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Revenue_Refuge_2024.pdf

Chicago

Creeks, Azani. REVENUE OVER REFUGE: Private Equity in Immigrant Detention. Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2024. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Revenue_Refuge_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Creeks |first1=Azani |title=REVENUE OVER REFUGE: Private Equity in Immigrant Detention |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=December 2024 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Revenue_Refuge_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{creeks2024revenue, author = {Creeks, Azani}, title = {{REVENUE OVER REFUGE: Private Equity in Immigrant Detention}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Revenue_Refuge_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }