Thank you to the nearly 300 people who signed up for our recent live discussion with the authors of Immigration Detention Inc. and to all those who asked thoughtful questions, shared resources, and contributed in the chat. It was a rich and deeply engaging conversation about one of the most urgent topics in U.S. immigration policy. (Original event announcement.)
This conversation took place at a pivotal moment. The U.S. immigrant detention population has surged to over 56,000 people—a massive spike not seen since the first Trump administration—and federal lawmakers are proposing billions in new funding for detention. Against that backdrop, the authors ask: Who profits? Where does the money go? And why does this system persist?
Immigrant Detention Inc. argues that immigration detention is not just a policy instrument but an economic engine—profitable for a wide array of public and private actors. While corporations like GEO Group and CoreCivic are well-known, Nancy and Deirdre dig deeper into a vast ecosystem of vendors: food providers, medical contractors, transportation companies, telecom firms, and more.
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In some counties, up to 10% of the local budget comes from detention-related contracts, creating what the authors call "webs of dependence." These webs ensnare not only corporations but entire communities, making it politically and economically difficult to unwind the system.
One of the most striking revelations concerned commissary pricing. Detainees often must purchase food and hygiene products because the provided services are so minimal. Prices for basic items inside detention can be four to seven times higher than in the outside market. Meanwhile, detainees earn as little as $1/day working inside these same facilities—a practice the authors describe as exploitative and akin to forced labor.
The authors explained how companies like WellPath and others are incentivized to not provide adequate care. Medical services, like food, operate on a model of cost containment—less care equals more profit. Off-site medical requests often go unapproved, and many deaths in detention are found to have been preventable with basic care.
Despite a framework of detention standards and inspections, the book details how oversight systems often function more as "accountability theater." The authors reviewed hundreds of ICE inspection reports—many of which recycled copy-paste language—and compared them with external audits from journalists or watchdog groups. The discrepancies are stark.
Private accreditation agencies, funded by the very facilities they inspect, reinforce a false sense of legitimacy. Meanwhile, recent policy proposals call for fewer inspections, not more.
What can be done? Some New Jersey counties have successfully ended ICE detention contracts thanks to sustained local activism. Yet even in these wins, tension emerges. Some advocates argued that keeping detention local was better for detainees’ legal access and proximity to family.
This complexity shows how webs of dependence are not just economic but moral and logistical, forcing hard decisions even among those who oppose the system.
Upcoming Book Events with the Authors
If you're in New York City, you can meet the authors at two upcoming events:
Book launch and "meet the authors" with Nancy and Deirdre: Tuesday, July 1, 7pm EST, at Book Culture, 536 West 112th Street, New York NY. (Register here.)
Book discussion with Nancy Hiemstra, Ulla Berg, and Sarah Tosh: Tuesday, July 15, 5:30 EST, at Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore, 116 Suffolk Street, New York, NY (More info here.)
Nancy and Deirdre are happy to speak to more groups, virtually or in person, as schedules and location permit. Follow them online below or email them for more information, questions, or requests to speak.
Twitter: @NancyAHiemstra @drdconlon
Email: Nancy Hiemstra (nancy.hiemstra@stonybrook.edu) Deirdre Conlon (d.conlon@leeds.ac.uk)
Stay tuned for more event details, including an upcoming conversation in Washington, D.C. later this summer.
Author Bios
Nancy Hiemstra is Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. A political geographer, her research focuses on the consequences of US immigration enforcement policies in the US and Latin America. She is author of Detain and Deport: The Chaotic U.S. Immigration Enforcement Regime (2019), co-editor with Deirdre Conlon of Intimate Economies of Immigration Detention (2016), and now, with Deirdre, Immigration Detention Inc: The Big Business of Locking Up Migrants
Deirdre Conlon is Associate Professor of Geography based at the University of Leeds in the UK. A critical geographer working in the US and Britain, her work focuses on how immigration and border controls are proliferating as they are monetized. She is co-editor of Carceral Spaces: Mobility and Agency in Imprisonment and Migrant Detention (2013), Intimate Economies of Immigration Detention (2016) and now, co-author of Immigration Detention Inc: The Big Business of Locking Up Migrants.
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