Dear Governor Newsom:

As members of the Northeast Los Angeles Alliance for Democracy and as Californians, we call on you to terminate remaining state grants and contracts with the Geo Group, a private operator of ICE detention centers in California and of private prisons around the nation. While we are aware that through your efforts the state has ended its contracts with Geo Group to operate state prisons, we are concerned that the Geo Group continues to receive state funds from the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation and the Division of Adult Parole Operations. These agencies continue to provide funds to the company to operate re-entry facilities in 18 California counties, including San Francisco, and to provide criminal justice system services, such as tracking accused perpetrators out on bond and parolees with ankle bracelets and other hardware Geo Group manufactures.

As Californians concerned with protecting democratic processes, we object that even a dime of our tax money continues to go to a corporation that is participating and profiting from the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional immigration enforcement actions and policies.  That’s why we demand that the state work to arrange other providers of these important services.

Geo Group’s record is atrocious. Here’s just some of what we’ve found out about this private prison operator:

·         The scope of the operations of GEO Group is enormous. They are a multi-national company with facilities in Australia and South Africa. With more than $2.4 billion in revenue in 2024, Geo Group is an international security company operating 50 detention centers in the U.S., with ICE as it's major customer. GEO Group 2024 4th Quarter Results

·         GEO Group is the largest private prison operator in the US NY Times

·         California outlawed the use of private prisons but GEO Group got a carve-out exception to run federal prisons in California

·         It is currently the largest holder of ICE detainees in CA 

·         62% of its revenue comes from the Federal Government GEO Group SEC Filing. That means it is operating with our taxpayer dollars. The Florida-based company has profited through political influence pedaling and maintaining a cozy relationship with Trump and MAGA lawmakers. Geo Group gave $4,023,200 in 2024 to politicians, including $2,538,500 to federal and national candidates and committees, plus $969,700 to state and local candidates. In addition it gave $515,000 to 527 organizations, which are unregulated and seek to influence election outcomes through independent expenditures. GEO Political Activity and Lobbying Report

·         GEO Group not only derives revenue from running private prisons, through a GEO Group subsidiary BI Incorporated, they have also "built a lucrative side business of digital tools — including ankle monitors, smart watches and tracking apps — to surveil immigrants on behalf of the federal government." NY Times, Capitol Weekl, The Guardian

·         People incarcerated in its facilities get paid only one dollar a day for work including waste management, janitorial work, kitchen work, building repairs, and laundry, foregoing mandatory minimum wage laws in the states they operate. Brennan Center for Justice, ProPublica

·         GEO Group and CoreCivic benefit from no-bid contracts to get awarded taxpayer-funded expansions of available detention beds for immigrant detainees LA Times

·         GEO Group has consistently held inmates in inhumane conditions. LA Times

·         GEO Group have denied Congresspeople access to their facilities despite a law that requires facilities that receive congressional funding to allow immediate access to any Congressperson to inspect their facilities to conduct mandated oversight Pod Save America 01:35:33 approximately

·         GEO Group and ICE have a "revolving door" which impedes transparency and oversight, and fosters corruptive practices NY Times, Teen Vouge

We have identified several points of pressure that we hope will work to diminish this company in particular, and others like it.

Follow the money

1.      Although no local Los Angeles city or county politicians have accepted political contributions from GEO Group, there are both Democratic and Republican officials in California that have received them. GEO Group themselves makes this information publicly available through their GEO Political Activity and Lobbying Report, and we want this information to be freely and easily available so that the public is able to pressure politicians to distance themselves. 

2.      Although most banks refuse to lend money to this company, we have identified Citizens Bank as a lender. We want to bring public attention to this connection and pressure Citizens Bank and other lenders to avoid providing it with the funds necessary to maintain and grow their operations. 

3.      *Who do they bank with, as in who handles their day-to-day banking such as checking accounts, etc? Can we put pressure on them to stop all banking activities?

4.      Let's not forget that GEO Group is operating via taxpayer's money. We may not be able to have our voices heard in DC under the Trump administration, but we must make our local and state politicians aware that we do not want our public coffers enriching private prison operators. As our Governor Gavin Newsom is seemingly ramping up to launch a presidential campaign, it is an opportune time to apply pressure on him to rescind the carve-out GEO Group received to operate private prisons in California.

5.      It is not too surprising that the billionaire principal owner of the Dodgers and newly also a stakeholder in the Lakers, Mark Walter, is connected to this lucrative but morally corrupt business. He is CEO of Guggenheim Partners, which holds a 0.38% in GEO Group, which may not sound like a lot, but is approximately a $12 million stake in the company. Seattle Medium. We support those who have already been protesting outside of Dodgers games, and want to encourage everyone to boycott both the Dodgers and the Lakers until Walter and any stakeholder is fully divested from GEO Group (and Palantir, but that is another story).

In order to fully understand why private prisons so dangerous for a free democratic society, it is important to understand that their profit-based structure leads directly to abuse, neglect, and civil rights violations. When these violations occur, because the institution is removed from public accountability, it is difficult for our civic institutions and elected representatives to fully hold them accountable. Most worrisome of all, due to the nature of a prison, where people can be held against their will, when we as a democratic society lack oversight and accountability, this system can be abused to silence political opposition, or simply those that irritate those in power.

1.      Civil Rights Violations 
Because GEO Group and their ilk are private corporations driven by a profit motive, it is logical (in the obscene late-capitalist notion of logic) that they incentivize cost‑cutting in staffing, healthcare, and maintenance. This often results in dangerous living conditions for the people held at their facilities, and the people working there as well. Indeed, Eleven detained undocumented immigrants died between 2017 and June of 2024 while in Geo Group facilities, more than under any other ICE detention center operator except for Core Civic, where 18 deaths occurred ACLU. 

Medical and Mental Health Failures at Adelanto

1.      A 2019 investigation by Disability Rights California (DRC) concluded that conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center posed grave risks to detainees—especially those with disabilities or mental health needs. Documented failures included delayed or denied psychiatric care, misuse of suicide watch cells, and understaffed medical units. Importantly, GEO significantly underreported suicide attempts by defining them narrowly to avoid scrutiny Teen Vogue, sbcsentinel.com, Disability Rights California.

2.      A separate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit (2018) found blatant violations: detainees held cloth “nooses” with elevated suicide risk, segregation without due process, insufficient dental and medical care, and mishandled grievances. A disabled detainee was left in a wheelchair for nine days without assistance aclusocal.org.

3.      Investigations by POGO and other watchdogs revealed pervasive complaints in 2016–17 about delays or denials of care, persistent incompetence in medical leadership, and retention of the same failed personnel even after subcontracting to another health provider pogo.org.

Toxic Chemical Exposure and Respiratory Harm

1.      From 2020–21, detainees at Adelanto experienced near‑constant exposure to the hazardous disinfectant HDQ Neutral, sprayed every 15–30 minutes—even during meals and sleep. According to a lawsuit filed by the Social Justice Legal Foundation, exposure led to headaches, throat and skin irritation, breathing problems, and potential long‑term harm. The EPA confirmed GEO’s misuse of this pesticide and issued formal warnings, finding widespread violations over nearly a decade NPR.

3.      Higher Rates of Violence and Poorly Trained Staff

1.      Independent studies show private prisons have significantly higher rates of assaults on staff (49% more) and on other inmates (65% more) than publicly run facilities. High turnover, insufficient training, and understaffing are key contributors PR Watch.

Diminished oversight

1.      Democratic societies require public accountability from their governments, particularly over institutions wielding coercive power. When such power is invested in private corporations, it can weaken citizen access to institutional information, foster regulatory capture and dilutes legislative control, and promote mass enforcement expansion, without scrutiny or accountability.

2.      Democratic societies also require checks and balances to function. This necessitates legislative, judicial, and civil oversight of detention operations.

Collectively, these patterns illustrate how cost-conscious operations without proper oversight degrade care quality and heighten risks of preventable illness, self-harm, and death. In order to have detention facilities be more just, they must be ethically aligned, ensuring that incarceration decisions serve justice, not corporate gain. Private prisons, especially in the immigration system, break this alignment. Taxpayer funds support facilities that minimize rights, conceal harm, and push for policy expansion—all driven by profit.

3.      A system that is ripe for authoritarian control

At a point in American history where we find ourselves on the brink of authoritarianism, allowing private corporations the power to incarcerate citizens and immigrants against their will is dangerous to our democracy. Combined with Trump's ICE militia, with the largest budget for a federal law enforcement agency, the legitimate functions of the state is coopted without civilian and congressional oversight. and repression of the populace can ensue.

Private prisons mirror features long associated with autocracy:

·         They concentrate coercive power in semi-private systems outside democratic control.

·         Their corporate/government alliances foster unchecked surveillance, mass detention, and punitive policy-making—hallmarks of authoritarian regimes Teen Vogue, AP News.

·         The “revolving door” between GEO and ICE, plus lobbying for harsh enforcement laws, enables institutional entrenchment of coercive capacity without meaningful checks or debate The Washington Post, Teen Vogue.

When detention infrastructure becomes insulated from oversight and enabled by corporate interests, it begins resembling secret police systems under authoritarian regimes.

The GEO Group offers a stark example of how private prisons threaten democratic institutions: through diminished oversight, politicized influence, profit-driven degradation of basic care, and unchecked expansion of state coercion. These dynamics resonate with authoritarian models where detention is detached from public accountability.

A democracy must subordinate coercive systems to public interest, not corporate profit. Unless democratic institutions act to curtail the power of private prisons, citizens risk permitting corporate-entrenched incarceration systems that echo autocratic tools of repression.

Sincerely,