Huffington Magazine Issue 86 | Page 62

ARRESTED IN AMERICA in the private prison business, more than doubled their revenues from immigrant detentions, according to securities filings examined by The Huffington Post in 2012. Steven Owen, the senior director of public affairs for CCA, said the company would not comment on government policy, but argued that the company’s facilities offer better conditions than county jails, which are also used for immigrant detentions. “Our professionals are deeply committed to treating those entrusted to their care with fair- HUFFINGTON 02.02.14 ness, dignity and respect,” he said. “We also understand and appreciate that our services are one of a number of solutions being considered and implemented by the government,” he added. One recent evening, sitting at a plastic table in the visiting room, Campos spoke about his time at the center through an interpreter. A small man with a neatly clipped mustache and a gentle manner, he said he spent his days watching TV, reading the Bible, exercising, talking with other detainees and worrying. He’d bonded with one of his cellmates, a Romanian father of two who had learned to speak Spanish fluently during his Eight protestors were arrested after blocking access to the Elizabeth detention center in December.