Immigrant Freed From 19-Month Detention: 'I Treat My Dogs Much Better Than The Detainees Are Treated'

Immigrant Freed From 19-Month Detention: 'I Treat My Dogs Much Better Than The Detainees Are Treated': "On Tuesday, for the first time in 19 months, Pedro Guzman left Stewart Detention Center, a privately run facility where he was housed while fighting deportation. The Lumpkin, Ga., detention center is one of many run by Corrections Corporation of America, a prison giant that believes its next major market is immigrant detentions.

Georgia may be its next frontier. The state's anti-illegal immigration bill, styled after Arizona's SB 1070, was signed into law last week. The result could be more immigrants in detention -- and more profits for CCA, which has been accused of mistreating detainees and cutting down on amenities to improve profits.

CCA, as reported by NPR last year, was in the room when SB 1070 author Russell Pearce, now Arizona state Senate president, unveiled his plans for the bill at a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Guzman said he saw firsthand how CCA makes its money by spending as little as possible on the men and women in detention centers."