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October 29, 2010

Report: Prison Industry Helped Draft Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law
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A new investigation has found the private prison industry played a key
role in the drafting and passage of Arizona’s notorious anti-immigrant
law. According to National Public Radio, the bill was formulated at a
Washington, DC meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or
ALEC, last December. The group brings together state legislators and
major corporations, including the nation’s largest private prison firm,
the Correction Corporation of America, CCA. Attendees helped write the
bill, gave it a name, and then voted to approve it. The bill’s eventual
sponsor, Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, then brought it back to
his home state. The ensuing months saw a frenzy of lobbying to enact the
bill. According to NPR, thirty of the measure’s thirty-six co-sponsors
received campaign donations from lobbyists working for CCA and two other
major private prison companies. In an internal document last year, the
CCA predicted that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
would bring in "a significant portion of our revenues."



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