### Private Prisons Poised to Profit from Trump's Deportation Plans

Donald Trump's promise to deport thousands of immigrants, both undocumented and legal, has set the stage for a potentially massive windfall for private prison companies. With Trump's plans to execute the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, investors are already eyeing lucrative opportunities. Geo Group, the nation's largest private prison firm, saw its shares skyrocket following Trump's election win, boasting a 40 percent surge in stock value on Wednesday alone. This translates to a leap from $14.18 per share the day before the election to $24.43 by Thursday.

In 2023, Geo Group derived 43 percent of its $2.4 billion top-line revenue from contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). George Zoley, Geo Group's founder and executive chairman, expressed his anticipation during a recent earnings call, suggesting that a second Trump administration would strengthen border security and interior enforcement, while requesting additional congressional funding to achieve these aims. "This is to us an unprecedented opportunity," he stated.

Private prison executives are preparing to meet the increased demand for detention services. Zoley mentioned that Geo Group is ready to more than double its number of ICE detention beds, from 13,500 to over 31,000. They are also looking to expand prisoner transport services and the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, or ISAP. According to CEO Brian Evans, the ISAP currently monitors around 182,000 participants but has the capacity to scale "to several hundreds of thousands of participants, and up to several million if necessary."

Signs of anticipated expansion are already evident. CoreCivic, another private prison group, noted that ICE had posted a request for information about ISAPs, indicating potential contract proposals.

Meanwhile, recent judicial actions have already begun to reflect Trump's tough stance on immigration. A Trump-appointed federal judge struck down Biden's "Keeping Families Together" initiative, which provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens. This could impact an estimated 500,000 spouses and 50,000 stepchildren. The Texas-based judge ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority, claiming the policy misidentified "significant public benefits."

Additionally, Trump's election victory has incited a wave of racist text messages targeting Black Americans across the country, including students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Many messages include the recipient's name and are sent from untraceable burner numbers provided by services like TextNow. The Federal Communication Commission and TextNow have both condemned the harassment and are working with authorities to address the issue.

As America braces for Trump's second term, both private prison companies and immigrant families are preparing for significant changes. The unfolding policies and judicial decisions are sure to evoke widespread economic, social, and political repercussions across the nation.