US Attorney General Does Goldman Sachs’ Bidding By Reviving Federal Private Prisons

SAYREVILLE, N.J. — Only hours after attending a rally to protest the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in New Jersey, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) responded strongly to media reports that new US Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions reversed an Obama-era directive to eliminate the use of private, for-profit prisons:

“This is yet another Trump Administration directive squarely aimed at enriching their Goldman Sachs cronies,” said Wisniewski. “There is an unprecedented amount of Goldman Sachs alumni in President Trumps orbit and the Attorney General just did them a financial favor, once again putting profits before people.”

“At their core, private, for-profit prisons are fundamentally at odds with the democratic system of corrections,” said Wisniewski. “Prisons are for punishing and correcting behavior, not making billions of dollars off the imprisonment of human beings. As governor, we will ban private prisons in New Jersey.”

The Elizabeth Detention Center, site of today’s protest against ICE raids, is owned by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). A recent report by Rolling Stone outlined the deep financial ties between CCA and what is referred to as the “million shares clubs,” which includes Goldman Sachs and several other Wall Street behemoths.

Wisniewski is running for the New Jersey Democratic Party’s nomination for governor against former Goldman Sachs Senior Executive Phil Murphy.