Jailing for profit is wrong.

What happens when budgets depend on incarceration →

Pamela, Over the last 20 years, more than 1,300 counties have expanded their existing jails or built new ones—increasing the United States' capacity to lock people up in jails by almost 40 percent. One reason for this growth is the prospective revenue that local jails can receive from neighboring counties, state corrections departments, and federal agencies—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—which all rent county jail beds. This practice allows these departments and agencies to lock up more and more people, even if they do not have space in their own facilities. Right now, the Trump administration's mass detention and deportation policies rely on renting space in local jails, in addition to holding people in temporary and private facilities. In fact, local jails are the most common type of facility in ICE's detention network. Jail bed rental arrangements can incentivize local officials to build newer, bigger jails based on perceived economic benefits—not on any local criminal legal system-related needs. Does that seem right to you, Pamela? County budgets should not depend on locking people up. This approach is expensive and wasteful, especially when counties underestimate the costs of these projects.  Local officials need to stop spending money on jail construction—which ties our collective futures to mass incarceration—and instead invest in the vital services our communities need in order to thrive. In solidarity, Vera Institute of Justice © 2025 Vera Institute of Justice. All Rights Reserved.   Vera Institute of Justice 34 35th Street | Suite 4-2A | Brooklyn, NY 11232 (212) 334-1300   Privacy Statement | unsubscribe