Gaston County commissioners were to meet Saturday to discuss a proposed federal detention center for illegal immigrants. Supporters say building the jail there could generate revenue for the county. Opponents say such construction would be an ill-advised, immoral move. Here are a few points to ponder:
• The United Methodist Church came out in 2000 and 2004 against privately run, for-profit prisons.
• The Presbyterian Church USA stated in 2003 that it is against such prisons.
• Some Episcopal and Catholic groups also have decried such practices. “To deprive other persons of their freedom, to restrict them from contact with other human beings, to use force against them up to and including deadly force, are the most serious of acts. To delegate such acts to institutions whose success depends on the amount of profit they generate is to invite abuse and to abdicate our responsibility to care for our sisters and brothers,” reads a statement from Catholic Bishops of the South.
• The U.S. Government Accountability Office in October found that the federal Bureau of Prisons lacked data to determine whether confining inmates in private prisons is more cost-effective than building new federal prisons.
Sources: AmericanCatholic.org, Grassroots Leadership, PCUSA.org, GAO.gov
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2008.
