06/21/2026
https://www.workers.org/2026/06/93144/
A hunger and labor strike by 300 immigrant detainees that started on May 22 at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, has thrown a spotlight on GEO Group, the Florida-based company that, along with Core Civic, oversees most Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in the United States. While GEO Group also operates state prisons, around half of its revenue comes from ICE contracts.
GEO Group currently has 26,000 contracts with the federal government, charging around $165 per detainee bed per day. In 2025, the first year of Donald Trump’s second term in office, GEO group’s profits increased 700% over the prior year. Already in 2026, with profits of $705.2 million, GEO Group has experienced a 17% increase over 2025.
The links between the company and ICE are expected to get even closer since Trump appointed David Venturella, a former GEO Group executive, to serve as acting director of ICE on May 13. Venturella’s most recent appointment — one that does not require congressional approval — exposes the revolving door between the for-profit prison company and ICE. Venturella had been a career official with ICE and the agency that preceded it off and on since the 1980s. In 2012, he joined GEO Group where he worked for 12 years before returning to the federal government last year...
A hunger and labor strike by 300 immigrant detainees that started on May 22 at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, has thrown a spotlight on GEO Group, the Florida-based company that, along with Core Civic, oversees most Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in the United State