Big Banks Making Money Off of Illegal Immigrant Detention

Christopher Petrella
NationofChange / Video Report
Published: Friday 17 August 2012
Investment banks like that of JPMorgan Chase, WellsFargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup have been investing in private prisons.

Christopher Petrella joins David Pakman in an interview about the private prison industry's efforts to profit from the detention of undocumented immigrants.  Christopher is a Ph.D. student at U.C. Berkeley and columnist for NationofChange.org.  Christopher provides his analysis of the prison industrial complex and offers an overview of the web of  political influence as prison labor becomes a mode of generating profits for state departments of corrections.  Over 200,000 undocumented immigrants were detained last year in the two largest private prisons that are being backed by big investment banks such as Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and WellsFargo. For more, please see http://www.davidpakman.com/



Get Email Alerts from NationofChange
Author pic
ABOUT Christopher Petrella

Christopher Petrella is a NationofChange contributing author and a doctoral candidate in African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He writes on the contradictions of modernity and teaches at San Quentin State Prison. His work has appeared in such publications as Monthly Review, Truthout, Axis of Logic, NationofChange, and The Real Cost of Prisons. Christopher also holds degrees from Bates College and Harvard University.

Top Stories

Congressman: Women Should be Forced to Give Birth to Fetuses with No Brain Function
Congressman: Women Should be Forced to Give Birth to Fetuses with No Brain Function
By Tara Culp- Ressler

In order to justify his support for H.R. 1797, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas suggested that Christy Zink should have given birth to her son anyway, regardless of the pain that may have caused her family.

Join Us in the March Against Monsanto
Join Us in the March Against Monsanto
By Ashley Curtin

New York, Chicago, Montreal, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Moscow and Melbourne, among hundreds of other cities, are taking part in March Against Monsanto in a mass movement to get people to care about their food supply, pressure politicians to keep their promises and take back our right to know what we are eating.

The Latest Lie: IRS Targeted Conservatives
The Latest Lie: IRS Targeted Conservatives
By Dave Johnson

Conservative groups were not “singled out,” were not “targeted” and in the end none were denied special tax status—even though many obviously should have been.

Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
By Froma Harrop

In this calamity, there was no shortage of brave people, putting themselves in danger to save others. Reporters found them easily and asked the stock question: “Do you consider yourself a hero?”

Why Democrats Can’t be Trusted to Control Wall Street
Why Democrats Can’t be Trusted to Control Wall Street
By Robert Reich

With the help of congressional Democrats, the Street is rolling back financial reforms enacted after its near meltdown.

2 comments on "Big Banks Making Money Off of Illegal Immigrant Detention"

Factkneader

August 17, 2012 4:52pm

This provides a lookahead folks. The U.S. is now a plutocracy. The Gops would prefer fascism and then a restoration of feudalism where there would then be a generous supply of ignorant peasants to supply the labor which will enable the lords to live with their accustomed opulence. The corporations will become the princely states and the CEOs the overlords. Democracy has never been a stable form of government -- power(money) always rises to the top and prevails.

pitch1934

August 17, 2012 4:51pm

Prison for profit is a self-defeating way of cleaning up crime. The prisons will find ways to get peoplein jail and keep them there.