“We can use the beds whenever and wherever we like,” said Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We are funded for a certain number of beds but there are many beds around the country that are available and it depends where and when we need them if we use them.’’
While companies do not release how much space they currently have available, analysts estimate that Geo has about 1,500 empty places. To increase capacity, the company announced in June that it was building a 576-inmate expansion of the 875-inmate Val Verde Correctional Facility it owns in Del Rio, Tex.
George C. Oley, Geo’s chief executive, said in a statement at the time of the Val Verde announcement: “We are moving forward with the expansion of this important facility in anticipation of the expected increased demand for detention bed space by the Federal Government.”
Despite the two companies’ dominance, they face competition from smaller players in the corrections business. A new federal detention center set to open in Texas at the end of July will be run by the Management and Training Corporation, a privately owned company based in Utah.
The Cornell Companies, based in Texas, currently operates two centers that hold detainees. It is the third-biggest private corrections company, though significantly smaller than Corrections Corp. and Geo, controlling just 7 or 8 percent of the market, according to Mr. Swindle.
“What’s great about the detention business,” Mr. High of Jefferies said, “is not that it’s a brand-new channel of demand, but that it is growing and significant.”
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