Certificate 014-A

Chapter Fourteen-A: The Swamp Filled With Kool-Aid — Warehouses, Private Prisons, and the Business of Detention

These are the sources the Kool-Aid Laboratory used to examine this chapter. Every one is public. Check them yourself.

Want the plain-English verdict and the full laboratory report for this chapter? Those are in Who's Drinking the Kool-Aid? — The Official Research Companion. Get the Companion →

#1 Primary record

U.S. Government Accountability Office — Immigration Detention: Waste and Performance Issues at Camp East Montana Provide Valuable Lessons for Future Facilities, GAO-26-108886 (2026).

The ~$1.3 billion Fort Bliss facility; payment for a 5,000-detainee service package regardless of population (including ~two weeks in August 2025 before any detainees arrived); missing pre-occupancy inspection; absent perimeter cameras, outdoor recreation, and attorney/family space; post-opening medical gaps, unsanitary conditions, and a lost loaded firearm.

#5 Primary record

CoreCivic, Inc. — 2025 results:

record company-wide revenue of about $2.2 billion, with sharply higher ICE revenue (SEC Form 8-K; Time).

#6 Primary record

ICE Alternatives to Detention program records and detention-versus-alternatives cost/performance evaluations

(GAO, DHS OIG, or comparable), for legally eligible, comparable groups.

#7 Primary record

Scripture:

Exodus 22:21 (KJV) — "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt"; Proverbs 20:10 (KJV) — "Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD."