Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is purportedly striking a profit off immigration detention facilities, including facilities which house children together with their families.,The report, procured and republished by POLITICO, saw the governor disclose earnings from a private equity firm claiming ownership of Correct Care Solutions.Correct Care Solutions is one of several for-profit healthcare providers holding ‘millions of dollars in government contracts with jails and prisons across the country, including immigrant detention centers.’The governor, reports POLTICO, said he relinquished investment decisions to a third party and has no direct connection to Correct Care Solutions. Nevertheless, Rauner’s earnings statements indicate that he’s continuing to receive income from the company and its holdings.On Monday, Illinois Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D) issued a statement responding to the claims.“It says a lot about the Republican Party when profits from jailing immigrant children and families are going straight to the Governor’s mansion. Something is very, very wrong. This should be about human beings and managing our immigration system, but families are being split apart to sell off the pieces to the lowest bidder on government contractors,” Gutierrez said. “The Governor ought to be ashamed of himself if he has any involvement with this ugly business that makes money from human misery and profits from laws designed to fill the beds of for-profit prisons.”Gutierrez is, according to his House website, a member of the Judiciary Committee and chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He’s blasted other Trump policies portrayed as anti-immigrant, including the President’s 2017 decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump's zero-tolerance policy on immigration prompted nationwide interest in family separations at the border. Photo by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0

Rauner, writes POLITICO, is facing a ‘rocky road’ to re-election in November. A Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state, has tended to avoid mention of the commander-in-chief. He’s spoken out against family separations but hasn’t taken the same aggressive stance as conservative governors in other predominately liberal states, like Massachusetts.As POLITICO notes, Rauner’s straddled a strange line between both parties. Apparently supportive of the for-profit prison industry, he was criticized by his Republican counterparts last year for sighing into law the Illinois Trust Act.The Illinois Trust Act, akin to sanctuary city and sanctuary state policies, limits the role of local authorities in collaborating with and enforcing federal immigration law.A spokesman for Ruaner said that the governor—estimated to be worth at least $500 million—placed his assets in a blind trust after taking office in 2015.“All of Gov. Rauner’s assets are controlled by blind trust procedures and he is not involved in day-to-day investment decisions,” said Will Allison. “Moreover, Gov. Rauner has never had any direct involvement with Correct Care.”

Sources

GUTIÉRREZ ON ILLINOIS GOVERNOR RAUNER’S FINANCIAL TIES TO IMMIGRANT DETENTION PROFITSIllinois governor profits off ICE detention center contracts