American justice is for sale, bill in Congress aims to fix this

For-profit prisons are turning America into a modern day slave state. The industry's lobbying activities have continuously aimed to unjustly lock up more impoverished and middle-class Americans along with undocumented immigrants in order to garner more profit for themselves. The incarceration rates for the United States is five to ten times that of other developed democratic nations, according to Jacobin. At the same time it costs American taxpayers nearly $2 billion annually to house around 400,000 undocumented immigrants detained by the government, reported The Nation. Progressive Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is looking to address this serious problem in a new bill which could signal the beginning of the end of the prison-immigration industrial complex in America.

Banning for profit prisons

Grijalva recently introduced the Justice Is Not For Sale Act of 2017 (H.R. 3227) which would ban the federal, state and local governments in the United States from contracting with for-profit private prison companies, therefore cutting off the private prison industry lobby's power over American politicians. The current contracts with privately-run prison companies would be phased out over the course of three years.

Parole and immigration reform

The bill also has provisions which give judges more flexibility in sentencing as well as helps reformed inmates more easily obtain parole in order to help them become productive and contributing citizens of society. Additionally, the proposed law would also give undocumented immigrants parole rights which would enable them to return to their families and continue contributing to the U.S. economy while working through the legal system to help them better integrate into American society.

Bill has support from some Democrats, no Republicans

The bill has been co-sponsored by 15 congressional Democrats. Among those include Keith Ellison, Tulsi Gabbard, Mark Takano and Barbara Lee. As of now, no Republicans have been brave enough to begin “draining the swamp” when it comes to reigning in the lobbying influence of the private prison industry. The bill has no co-sponsors from the GOP.

If you believe that American politicians should not be beholden to the prison industrial complex and believe in humane immigration reform then please contact your local congressional representatives and tell them to support the Justice Is Not For Sale Act of 2017.