The Indypendent » NPR Investigation: Private Prison Companies Helped Write SB1070

The Indypendent » NPR Investigation: Private Prison Companies Helped Write SB1070

NPR Investigation: Private Prison Companies Helped Write SB1070Arizona’s draconian and constitutionally suspect anti-immigration law has garnered a great deal of public attention and sent a wave of fear through immigrant communities in that state and across the country. Today, a National Public Radio investigation deepens that story, exposing a sinister tale of backroom profit and politics.

NPR’s Laura Sullivan reports that SB 1070, which makes it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in the state and requires racial profiling, was largely conceived and drafted by a conservative business lobbying group in Washington, D.C. The group, called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, includes board members from state and federal elected officials as well as representatives of major companies including the Corrections Corporation of America, the country’s largest private prison company. Russell Pearce, the Arizona state legislator who claims responsibility for SB 1070, is one of the state legislators on ALEC’s board.