In May, the nation’s two largest private prison contractors announced dramatic increases in their first-quarter earnings for the year. The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) reported a 17 percent increase over the same period in 2015 and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) reported a more modest 5 percent rise. Also in May, the Obama administration declared its intentions to launch a series of raids to capture women and children who have fled violence in Central America. These two developments are not unrelated; CCA and GEO run the two largest family detention centers in the country. ...

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