Of free markets and caged humans: the ethical and legal implications of for- profit immigration detention

Private prisons are quickly becoming the new hosts for many of the over 400,000 unauthorized immigrants detained annually in the United States. The argument over whether to privatize is one that involves both practical questions of who can produce the most efficient results and philosophical implications. This thesis argues that privatized immigrant detention creates a perverse incentive structure that may lead to multiple problems, including greater risks for constitutional and human rights violations of immigrant detainees. I utilize Ira P. Robbins’ Legal Dimensions to Private Incarceration
(1998) handbook in order to update and explore the relevance of two legal doctrines as potential challenges to the private immigrant detention industry.