WINTON, N.C. (NCN News) – A Florida-based company has reached a deal with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house detainees at a closed North Carolina private prison.
The GEO group announced that the company has entered into a five-year support services contract with ICE for the activation of a federal immigration processing center at the GEO-owned, 1,320-bed Rivers in Winton, North Carolina.
According to a statement, the support services contract is expected to generate approximately $80 million in annual revenues in the first full year of operations. GEO’s support services are expected to include the exclusive use of the Facility by ICE, along with security, maintenance, and food services, as well as access to recreational amenities, medical care, and legal counsel.
The move is not without its critics, among them Governor Josh Stein who said on social media that: “The planned ICE detention center in Winton is not state-owned, and I did not approve this transaction . Like many other North Carolinians, I do not want it in our state. ICE and Border Patrol have not earned our trust.”
“When it was open, this prison was singled out by the Justice Department for having some of the worst conditions in the entire federal system,” said Andreina Malki, who supervises the Siembra NC hotline and support for detained immigrants, and whose doctoral research focused on the Winton facility. “Now, it will be run by the exact same for-profit company that generated those crises.”
“We’ve talked to people who live right here in Hertford County, and the community sentiment is clear: they don’t want this facility reopened,” Malki added. “They don’t want to trade the promise of local employment for the reality of human suffering and corporate exploitation in their own backyard.”
“ICE arrests in North Carolina have nearly doubled over the last year, while the percentage of those detained who actually have criminal records has plummeted,” said Kelly Morales, co-director of Siembra NC. “In fact, more than half of all people swept up in North Carolina recently do not have a criminal conviction on their record. This facility is the infrastructure for a broader plan: to force immigrants with no criminal record to choose between waiting for their day in court inside a dangerous, life-threatening environment, or signing away their rights to accept immediate deportation.”
George C. Zoley, GEO’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, said, “We expect that our company-owned Rivers Facility in Winton, North Carolina will play an important role in helping meet the need for increased federal immigration processing center bedspace. We are proud of our 40-year public-private partnership with ICE, and we stand ready to continue to assist the federal government in meeting its immigration enforcement priorities.”