Author: mopress

The Wall Street Journal has a peculiar way of talking about a measured shift in public opinion. By comparing poll numbers between December and today, the WSJ reports that citizens of the USA are less likely to think that immigration hurts more than helps.

To account for this shift the WSJ gives credit to the President for achieving his goal of a civil debate. And what about those amazing demonstrations that broke historical records from L.A. to Round Rock?
“Today, despite predictions of a backlash from demonstrations this spring demanding immigrants’ rights, the public is more evenly split.”

Is the WSJ saying that the public has been educated to tolerance because of the President, in spite of the demonstrations? A better assessment is possible.

The tendency of The Street to frame things top-down is contradicted by the rest of the poll, which shows that what worries Americans most is the prospect of two more years of uncontested Republican leadership.

Are people confident that the Democrats can supply the needed alternative? About this, in strict keeping with the evidence in front of them, citizens of the USA have significant doubts. It’s a good year for none of the above, says the WSJ, as the people of Texas already know.

By Greg Moses

CounterPunch / OpEdNews

Back in January, the jobs picture in Eloy, Arizona wasn’t looking so good. Thanks to federal budget cuts, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced it would cancel a contract with the town’s biggest employer, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) at a cost of 300 jobs.
Today, however, the jobs picture is much improved. Not only did CCA manage to save the jobs at the Eloy Detention Center by picking up a contract to detain 1,500 male “noncitizens” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the giant prison contractor has also broken ground on two new projects in Eloy that will together import about 3,500 new prisoners from Alaska and Hawaii.

“This means an awful lot to the city. It opens more job opportunities for people in the region,” said Eloy Mayor Byron Jackson in a dispatch filed by reporter Eli J. Long of the Arizona Daily Star.

In addition to Eloy’s three prisons, CCA already manages two prisons in the nearby town of Florence that together import nearly 4,000 prisoners from ICE, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), US Air Force, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. When all five prisons of Pinal County are up and running, they will bring a total of 2,000 jobs.

“Our contracts create predictable revenue streams,” brags the CCA investor report for Q1 2006. And the news does look good for investors. The prison industry is not much affected by economic downturns; 93.3 percent of the market share is yet to be privatized; overcrowding is pervasive; and demographic trends “point to higher prison populations.”

In addition to these favorable trends for investors, CCA points to “strong federal demand substantially driven by an increasing emphasis on border security” (CCA Q1 investor report 2006, pdf page 10.)

By “increasing emphasis,” CCA means increasing funds. To hold more prisoners, Congress has given USMS a 38 percent increase in detention funding, good for about 5,000 new beds. ICE is getting another $90 million for new cells, too.

“This represents the third consecutive year of increased funding to ICE and USMS,” announces CCA in a blue box filled with bold red italics. So you see, Congress has been addressing somebody’s needs. But there’s more, because the President also has taken action in time to make the Q1 pdf.

“On May 15, 2006, President Bush requested $1.948 billion in emergency funding to help secure America’s borders,” heralds the May 30 report from CCA. That emergency money is supposed to include 4,000 prison beds more.

Then, if you look at the schedule for FY 2007, things get even better for CCA investors. The USMS will be looking at another funding increase of $110 million for prisoner detention, which sounds pretty good until you look at ICE, which is even better, because ICE is looking at a $700 million increase in funds, which will translate into anywhere from 4,780 to 6,700 new beds for immigration prisoners.

“Although the ultimate form of a comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill is not certain at this time,” reports CCA once again in red italics, “the Company believes any bill ultimately passed will provide for substantial increases in the arrest and detention of illegal immigrants crossing the US border with
Mexico.” And why should we not believe the company?

But CCA is not yet finished with the prospects of federal demand for prisoners, because it’s not all about immigrants, you know. There are 190,000 prisoners in the BOP; the agency is running 34 percent over capacity; and for plain ole U.S. Citizens, it will need at least another 30,000 beds before 2011. Funding for this need will be forthcoming. The CCA isn’t worried about that.

Factor in only one thing more, that the CCA’s preference for warmer climates of the South and Southwest tends to “mute” the impacts of rising energy prices, and you have the total picture: “Superior returns on investment,” says the bullet point, “The Company is able to generate unleveraged, pre-tax returns on new real estate investments of between 13-15 percent of cost at a stabilized occupancy of 95 percent.”

Which brings us back to Pinal County and the obvious pun. Just put your money on the table. CCA and the feds will stabilize the prison occupancy. Ask not for whom they build the beds. Whether you’re a CCA investor or not, either way you’re guaranteed a secure place to sleep.

We found this discussed at Scott Henson’s blog, Grits for Breakfast, when we went looking for his take on the governor’s fresh brag about reducing major crime at the border.

As a long term trend, border counties are fast growing and fast reducing crime rates, which tells you more about the quality of the new arrivals than about the value of border crackdowns.

Which brings us to Henson’s second point: it’s not migration that’s getting out of hand, it’s immigration crackdowns. Here’s another source on the issue of border crime from the US/Mexico Border Counties Coalition:

“The contemporary situation in southwest border counties relating to crime and law enforcement is quite different than many would expect. Consider, for example, that some of the nation’s safest cities are located along the southwest border, including Tucson and El Paso. Given the link of crime to important quality of life decisions, the low rate of crime in southwest border counties, combined with attributes, such as affordable housing is part of the landscape of increasing retirement in the southwest. Since 1990, official crime statistics have recorded a dramatic drop of 30 percent (Figure 13.1). Property crimes are down 40 percent between 1990 and 2000 and violent crimes, among the lowest in the nation making up only 12 percent of all crimes, dropped 29 percent in the same decade.”

Chapter 13, “At the Cross Roads: US/Mexico Border Counties in Transition”

Thanks to you, dear reader, June is already the busiest month ever for the Texas Civil Rights Review (serving Texas agitators since 1997). Of course, we always add the disclaimer that the numbers ain’t huge by comparison to the web’s heavy hitters, but we like progress, especially since we make no effort to satisfy a mass audience. We just try to say what needs to be said, even if it sounds strange, discomforting, or way beyond the margins of mainstream discourse.

Anyway thanks for visiting, and y’all come back soon, y’hear?