Biden’s Detention Ban Boosts Taxpayer Costs, GAO Warns
GAO report links Biden’s ban on private migrant detention to higher taxpayer costs.
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Former President Joe Biden’s ban on the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) from contracting with private detention companies to hold criminal migrants led to increased costs for American taxpayers, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
Policy Shift and Rising Costs
Just days after taking office in January 2021, Biden reinstated an Obama-era policy to phase out BOP contracts with privately-managed prisons that primarily held foreign nationals convicted of federal crimes. The decision was framed as part of his ‘racial equity’ agenda.
The GAO report states that the move resulted in a rise in prison costs for Americans, as private detention centers contracted by BOP to hold criminal migrants tend to be much less expensive than federal detention facilities. In fiscal year 2023, BOP’s incarceration of noncitizens cost $1.1 billion, compared to $935 million in fiscal year 2021, despite the number of noncitizens incarcerated remaining relatively the same.
Adjusting for inflation, the report notes that costs increased by 5% in fiscal year 2023 compared to 2021. The report highlights that the period coincided with the end of BOP’s contracts with privately-operated criminal detention facilities, which were its lowest-cost facility type. These facilities were used to incarcerate certain low-security individuals, including noncitizens.
Industry Concerns and Criticism
Executives with the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) warned from the start that Biden’s decision would lead to financial problems for the agency. They pointed out that private detention centers offered significantly lower costs, with the GAO noting that incarceration in such facilities was 22% to 35% cheaper than in BOP-operated low-security facilities.
NICE President RJ Hauman criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for not focusing on expanding detention space instead of pursuing what he calls ‘stunts’ like tents in Florida’s Everglades and Guantanamo. He emphasized that traditional custodial detention runs at a median cost of $92 a day, and that mass deportation requires permanent beds at scale.
Call for Policy Reassessment
Hauman urged DHS to act swiftly to address the detention capacity gap, warning that without significant investment, the current system will face insurmountable challenges by 2029. The GAO report serves as a wake-up call for the agency to reassess its approach to migrant detention and cost management.
Source: Breitbart
