Anti-Trump activists protested Saturday morning near the Boca Raton headquarters of GEO Group, one of the country鈥檚 largest private prison contractors, demanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ends its business ties with companies housing immigrants.
鈥淒etaining people for profit is morally indefensible,鈥� said Myra Kremenitzer, founder of Indivisible鈥檚 Boca Raton chapter, which rallied about 100 demonstrators.
鈥淭he GEO Group has built a business model around the suffering of vulnerable individuals, many of whom are fleeing violence, persecution, and poverty,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is not justice 鈥� it鈥檚 exploitation.鈥�
Indivisible Boca Raton is part of a national grassroots movement founded in response to Trump's first election victory in 2016.
The protest comes on the heels of a that found the country鈥檚 private immigration detention companies, CoreCivic and GEO Group, along with their subsidiaries and executives, contributed nearly $2.8 million to Trump鈥檚 2024 election efforts and inaugural fund.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said 90% of the nation鈥檚 immigrant detention centers are managed by private, for-profit companies.
They say those companies are expected to collect a windfall of revenue and profit from the recent passage of Trump鈥檚 鈥淏ig, Beautiful Bill Act.鈥� The tax and spending package include $45 billion for ICE to pay private contractors to implement mass detention of immigrants.
"Our political engagement efforts are largely educational, with the overarching objective of informing lawmakers and policymakers of the long-standing quality services we have delivered on behalf of federal and state government agencies for over three decades under both Democratic and Republican administrations," posted to its website.
The federal government contracts with the GEO Group to operate 14 ICE processing centers facilities around the country. The centers include the Broward Transitional Center, .
The company also said it 鈥渉as always been committed to protecting the Human Rights of the persons entrusted to its care.鈥�
, the global company reported net income of almost $20 million in this year鈥檚 first quarter with revenue of $604 million.
Human rights groups and activists have long criticized the company for profiting off a system they say denies due process and basic dignity to detainees.
Indivisible鈥檚 Kremenitzer said his group wants the Trump administration to terminate ICE contracts with private prison operaters, including the GEO group and order the release of detained immigrants. It wants Congress to investigate the role of private contractors in immigration enforcement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 immoral for ICE to destroy lives without due process,鈥� Kremenitzer told SA国际传谋 in a statement. 鈥淎iding and abetting that dirty work for profit, like the GEO Group, is reprehensible.鈥�
