Immigration enforcement is supplying a long-standing economic market for prisoners

Rural places have long built and expanded prisons to tap federal funds during hard times.

By: Ella Siegrist, Washington University in St. Louis, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: August 28, 2026

Words: 1,140

Last Updated: 1 month, 3 weeks ago

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By Ella Siegrist, Washington University in St. Louis

In January 2026, during Operation Country Roads, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state and local law enforcement detained roughly 600 immigrants across West Virginia.

Many of those arrested were held in the state’s already overpopulated jail system, which until this spring was part of a national network of immigrant detention centers.

Within this market, ICE ships detainees around the country, paying hundreds of …

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