Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t really keep track of whether thousands of detainee complaints each year are addressed, doesn’t use the data it has to improve facility conditions, and still doesn’t actually equire action to be taken on issues identified by inspectors, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this week.

Last Friday, lawmakers made two major moves in challenging the use of privately-owned detention centers and prisons in the United States.

Between a federal shutdown, ongoing litigation, and new efforts to change bad policy, there’s a lot going on in the nation’s criminal justice system. Here’s what you might have missed.

Since the 2016 general election, Florida-based for-profit prison operator GEO Group has donated over a million dollars to Political Action Committees and political candidates throughout the State of Florida, support Republican PACs and gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, as well as a number of elections for representation in both houses of the Florida Congress.

Two of the least populated states in the nation are experiencing enough prison crowding to warrant, by their estimates, the transfer of hundreds of inmates to private prison facilities in other states.

Earlier this month, on the same day that GEO Group execs held a Second Quarter earnings call with shareholders detailing its immigration-based growth, the company issued a Cease and Desist order to the group Dream Defenders, in part a response to its organizing a day of action against the company.

Here are five close-to-home ways for you to learn more about the private prison industry, and to contribute to the ongoing discussion about their use.

Private prison company CoreCivic sees growth in demand from U.S. Marshals Service as part of its forward-moving plan.

Each year, dozens of private prison contracts come up for re-bid. Help MuckRock’s Private Prison Project by letting us know about the contract debate near you.

The Trump administration’s policies will be benefiting the bank accounts of the country’s largest for-profit prison operators and echo correctional policies that have been controversial since the ’80s.