Harris silent on private prisons after past calls to close them

Zoom in: In her 2016 campaign for Senate and during her first run for president in 2019, Harris repeatedly called for federal and state governments to abolish the use of private prisons for citizens and undocumented immigrants.

• "Private prisons are morally wrong, and they're a rotten deal for American taxpayers," she posted on Facebook in 2016.
• Private prisons have come under scrutiny in recent years after instances of corruption. Democrats homed in on them during Trump's presidency after allegations of inhumane treatment in private immigration detention centers.

In 2019, Harris ran for president in the Democratic primary saying it was "necessary to end the profit motive that drives these private prisons, as it is inhumane to profit off of imprisonment," according to an archived version of her website.

• "We must end private detention centers for undocumented immigrants," the website read.
• Asked at a 2019 town hall in Iowa whether she would close immigration detention centers as president, Harris replied: "Absolutely, on day one. On day one."
• She wrote in November 2019: "On day 1, my administration will shut down all government contracts with private prisons."
• She praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing a bill in October 2019 to try close private prisons in the state, posting that "no one should profit off the incarceration of human beings. It's time we did the same nationwide."

What they're saying: The Harris campaign didn't respond when asked whether Harris would keep her past promises to close private prisons.

• Harris' campaign also didn't respond to a request for an interview on the topic.

Between the lines: Harris' campaign is betting it can beat Trump without answering some questions about her positions — including progressive policies she previously backed that some Democrats fear could turn off swing voters.

• Harris' team has rolled out plans to boost the economy and toughen immigration policies — areas that polls suggest are her weak spots against Trump. Otherwise, Harris hasn't put out many policy proposals as she seeks to make the election a referendum on Trump.

Flashback: President Biden issued an executive order in early 2021 seeking to ban private prisons for criminals — a move that didn't include immigration detention.

• "There should be no private prisons, period. None, period," Biden said in his first year of the presidency.

He's had mixed success in implementing the order.

• Many private prison contracts haven't been renewed but in 2023 the U.S. Marshals Service was still locking up at a third of its prisoners in facilities run by private companies, according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union.
• Based on documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the ACLU also found that more than 90% of the roughly 30,000 people held in ICE custody each day were in facilities owned or operated by private corporations.

Zoom out: More Democrats began calling for closing private prisons and detention facilities after a series of scandals involving the facilities in recent decades.

• In what would become known as the "kids for cash" scandal, two Pennsylvania judges were convicted in a scheme in which they took kickbacks from a private prison company while imposing harsh sentences, including on minors.
• 4,000 juvenile convictions covering more than 2,300 minors were thrown out in the aftermath, according to the Associated Press.

Democrats increasingly turned their attention to ICE detention centers during the presidency of Trump, who supports private prisons.

• In 2018 during Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that separated families, then-Sen. Harris visited the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego run by CoreCivic, a company that runs and manages prisons and detention facilities.
• After a tour of the facility and speaking with the detainees, Harris said: "The stories they shared with me paint a picture of human rights abuses being committed by our government."