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.
