Private Prison Stocks Skyrocket Following Donald Trump's Election Win

Stocks for two of the largest private prison properties in America have skyrocketed following Trump's election victory.

prison cell
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prison cell

Wednesday morning, following Donald Trump's victory in the election, stocks for CoreCivic (formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America), the biggest private prison in the United States, was up by nearly 60 percent. Stocks for the second biggest, GEO Group, went up by 28 percent. While both have subsided since early this morning, stocks have remained rather strong.

This marks an undoing of the Obama administration, which, in August of 2016, announced plans to phase out and cease use of private prisons, some of which have been used to house undocumented inmates. According to the Justice Department's Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, "They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department's Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security." 

Stock prices for both CoreCivic and GEO Group had dropped around 25 percent following the Obama administration's announcement, but both are now back up a mere hours after the Trump's election victory. Under Hillary Clinton's administration, Obama's plan would have been continued. But Trump's racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant stance has predicted an expansion of private prisons. Despite Trump's lack of vocalization on the exact matter, it's long been known that the prison system has been fueled by racism. However, the Motley Fool notes that the spike is curious considering Trump's end game for illegal immigrants is deportation, not imprisonment. 

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