NEW YORK: One of the biggest US private prison companies announced a share repurchase program on Wednesday, the latest sign of an industry boom from President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Geo Group, one of the two leading US private prison companies, said the White House’s policies will fuel their growth for the foreseeable future, even as executives pointed to staffing and infrastructure limitations that could constrain the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s target of hiring 10,000 workers is “very expensive and very complicated,” said Geo Executive Chairman George Zoley, predicting it will “take a long time” to reach that figure.
“You need more people to go across the country and identify people who are here unlawfully,” Zoley said on a conference call. “One person doesn’t go out and do this job by themselves. It’s a whole team of people.”
Florida-based Geo, which is adding thousands of beds for detainees at sites around the United States, reported profits of $29.1 million after losing $32.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenues rose 4.8 percent to $636.2 million.
The company, which is also seeing growth in its transportation business for ICE, said its board had authorized $300 million in share repurchases.
Company officials expect more of a revenue increase in 2026 from the ICE crackdown. By that point, four facilities currently being activated will be at capacity, resulting in annual revenues of $240 million.
Geo also has another 5,900 beds at six company facilities that are currently idle. If fully utilized by ICE, they could yield another $310 million in annual revenues, Zoley said.
But company officials suggested a widely-discussed Washington target of one million deported annually could be difficult in light of the constraints facing the operation.
Trump’s multi-year fiscal package approved by Congress in July triples ICE’s detention budget to $45 billion over four years. Administration officials have said they need 100,000 beds at detention centers to reach their mass-deportation goals.
Zoley estimated that private companies currently have capacity for 75,000 or 80,000 beds, leaving a gap that could be met at military bases or by the US states.
“They are communicating with many red states in particular,” said Zoley, who mentioned Florida, Texas and Louisiana among the Republican-controlled states whose public sectors are being enlisted.
“These are unchartered waters for the agency to expand their platform of detention nationally... to literally more than double the size of the previous administration,” he said. “It can’t be done overnight.”
Shares of Geo rose 2.6 percent.
After the stock market closed, CoreCivic, the other leading private prison company, lifted its financial targets after reporting that second-quarter profits more than doubled to $38.5 million.
Trump immigration crackdown boosts private prison profits
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Trump immigration crackdown boosts private prison profits
- Geo Group, one of the two leading US private prison companies, said the White House’s policies will fuel their growth for the foreseeable future
- The Florida-based group reported profits of $29.1 million and is adding thousands of beds for detainees at sites around the United States
- CoreCivic, the other leading private prison company, lifted its financial targets after reporting that second-quarter profits more than doubled to $38.5 million
Pakistani fighter jet crashes in Jalalabad, pilot captured: Afghan military, police
- Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday
- Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar
JALALABAD: A Pakistani jet has crashed in Jalalabad city and the pilot captured alive, the Afghan military and police said Saturday, with residents telling AFP the man parachuted from the plane before being detained.
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces "and the pilot was captured alive".
The AFP journalist heard a jet overhead before blasts from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday, following overnight clashes as the international community expressed increasing concern about the conflict and called for urgent talks.
Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar, in one of the deepest Pakistani incursions into its western neighbor in years, officials said.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, who it claims are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.
The fighting has raised the risk of a protracted conflict along the rugged 2,600-kilometer frontier.
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace late on Friday as Afghanistan said its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan about reducing tensions and keeping diplomatic channels open.
The European Union called for both sides to de-escalate and engage in dialogue, while the United Nations urged an immediate end to hostilities.
Russia urged both sides to halt the clashes and return to talks, while China said it was deeply concerned and ready to help ease tensions.
The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks by the Taliban, a State Department spokesperson said.
Border fighting continues
Exchanges of fire continued along the border overnight.
Pakistani security sources said an operation dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed multiple Taliban posts and camps in several sectors. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Both sides have reported heavy losses with conflicting tolls that Reuters could not verify. Pakistan said 12 of its soldiers and 274 Taliban were killed while the Taliban said 13 of its fighters and 55 Pakistani soldiers died.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said 19 civilians were killed and 26 wounded in Khost and Paktika. Reuters could not verify the claim.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said “our cup of patience has overflowed” and described the fighting as “open war,” warning that Pakistan would respond to further attacks.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a speech in Khost province that the conflict “will be very costly,” and that Afghan forces had not deployed broadly beyond those already engaged.
He said the Taliban had defeated “the world, not through technology, but through unity and solidarity,” and through “great patience and perseverance,” rather than superior military power.
Pakistan’s military capabilities far exceed those of Afghanistan, with a standing army of hundreds of thousands and a modern air force.
In stark contrast, the Taliban lacks a conventional air force and relies largely on light weaponry and ground forces.
However, the Islamist group is battle-hardened after two decades of insurgency against US-led forces before returning to power in 2021.
