ICE, CCA Funnel Immigration Detention Dollars from Texas to Arizona

"When the immigration detention center in Dilley fills up next year, the city of Eloy, Arizona, population 16,600, stands to make $436,000.  Eloy will benefit because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tapped the town as a pass-through to funnel $290 million to a private jail company to operate the center in Dilley, two states and 930 miles away.  Under the deal, Eloy will amend an existing contract it has with Corrections Corporation of America, which already runs a facility in Eloy.  Eloy gets a small cut of the contract.  ICE frequently uses the tactic, called an intergovernmental service agreement, to avoid a public bidding process and expedite new jails.  But critics say the agreements deter competition and circumvent federal procurement rules.  Dilley Mayor Pro Tem Ray Aranda said taxpayers will incur millions of dollars in costs for infrastructure improvements to accommodate the 2,400-bed detention center to be built on what's now a camp for oilfield workers.  Aranda said he supports the detention center and the 600 to 700 jobs it's expected to bring Dilley, population 4,000, but wants to know why a city in Arizona will benefit financially." - Jason Buch, San Antonio Express-News, Oct. 11, 2014.