The opening of the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center this week in South Florida will help fill a need to find space to hold a surge of immigrants arrested by the Trump administration.
The government is also hoping to hold more immigrants in private jails. Contracts with for-profit detention centers, and extra funding for them — included in President Trump's signature policy bill in Congress — are providing a boost to companies including CoreCivic, one of the nation's largest private jail operators.
"Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now," CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger said during an earnings call in May.
The company is trying to reactivate a detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, to house up to 1,033 immigrants as part of a deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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The city, however, is pushing back, filing a lawsuit to require CoreCivic seek a special use permit to begin accepting immigrant detainees. The city's complaint in court describes the jail — vacant since 2021 — as "an absolute hell hole."
The legal battle in Leavenworth has opened a window into some of the well-documented problems with private jails.
"We've had a lot of former corrections officers come out and tell their story," said Leavenworth Mayor Holly Pittman. "We've had lot of family members who have not had good experiences in CoreCivic."
William Rogers was a corrections officer at the center when it housed federal criminal inmates before the Biden administration stopped using private jails. Rogers worked in the jail beginning in 2016, one year before a blistering Justice Department audit documented a chronic lack of staffing there.
At times there were not enough people to man security posts identified as "mandatory" to "run the facility in a safe and secure manner," the audit said. Rogers said things got so bad, an inmate was able to attack him.
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"He came up behind me — I should have known better, right — and he hit me in the back of the head with a tray," Rogers said. "I didn't have the bubble that was supposed to be working that day with me working. Too short staffed. So the only thing I was dependent on was the cameras."
It took 14 staples to close his head wound. Rogers and other insiders also told Scripps News about inmate overcrowding at the jail.
The 2017 Justice Department audit reported that officials at CoreCivic in Leavenworth uninstalled beds before an inspection to conceal that they were triple-bunking detainees.
"People were everywhere," said Tina Shonk-Little, a detainee at the site before being moved to a federal prison to serve a sentence for conspiracy to commit arson and insurance fraud.
"Prison compared to that was a dream," she added. "The lack of feminine hygiene products, the lack of toilet paper, lack of blankets, lack of mats. That's not what jail or prison is supposed to be like."
CoreCivic did not respond to a question about Shonk-Little's claims. The company has acknowledged there were challenges during an 18-month period in a tight labor market during the pandemic.
Supporters of CoreCivic's plan to bring immigrants to Leavenworth point to the 300 jobs and more than $1 million the company plans to invest in the community.
"I wish we could just get out of the way and let it happen," said Pat Proctor, a Republican state representative who owns a Thai restaurant in the city's downtown. "I think it's pretty clear that the city is not going to give them a permit because the city government is dominated by Democrats that are using this red herring issue of a special use permit as a way to stop President Trump's immigration policy."
During a visit to the jail in June, workers appeared to be unloading boxes and testing alarms. The parking lot was full of cars.
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CoreCivic declined a request for an interview but sent a statement saying the company is "not currently caring for anyone" at the site.
"Our facility will operate with strong oversight and accountability from our government partners, including regular audits and onsite monitors," the statement said.
"Jails are bad places," Proctor said. "That's why you try to follow the law and not get put in jail."
A 2016 federal audit found higher rates of safety related incidents at contract prisons, finding more assaults, uses of force, and lockdowns compared to federal prisons. The audit also specifically called out CoreCivic, saying the company's' "contract prisons had the highest rates of inmate fights and inmate assaults on other inmates."
At CoreCivic's state prison in Trousdale, Tennessee, more than 100 police officers were summoned to put down a riot in June after three guards were held hostage. The Justice Department under former President Biden had been investigating the correctional center, saying it "has been plagued by serious problems since it first opened its doors."
Former Leavenworth corrections officer William Rogers sees a pattern.
"I've seen it prior with these inmates not getting what they're supposed to," he said. "I experienced it first-hand. Tell me how it's going to be different."
A state judge sided with Leavenworth saying CoreCivic should obtain a special use permit before detaining immigrants in the city. CoreCivic says a permit is not required by city code, but has not said whether it will appeal or begin housing immigrants despite the judge's ruling.
