NEW YORK, Aug 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - One of the biggest US private prison 
companies announced a share repurchase program on Wednesday, the latest sign 
of an industry boom from President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal 
immigration.

Geo Group, one of the two leading US private prison companies, said the White 
House's policies will fuel their growth for the foreseeable future, even as 
executives pointed to staffing and infrastructure limitations that could 
constrain the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's target of hiring 10,000 
workers is "very expensive and very complicated," said Geo Executive Chairman 
George Zoley, predicting it will "take a long time" to reach that figure.

"You need more people to go across the country and identify people who are 
here unlawfully," Zoley said on a conference call. "One person doesn't go out 
and do this job by themselves. It's a whole team of people."

Florida-based Geo, which is adding thousands of beds for detainees at sites 
around the United States, reported profits of $29.1 million after losing 
$32.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenues rose 4.8 percent to $636.2 
million.

The company, which is also seeing growth in its transportation business for 
ICE, said its board had authorized $300 million in share repurchases.

Company officials expect more of a revenue increase in 2026 from the ICE 
crackdown. By that point, four facilities currently being activated will be 
at capacity, resulting in annual revenues of $240 million.

Geo also has another 5,900 beds at six company facilities that are currently 
idle. If fully utilized by ICE, they could yield another $310 million in 
annual revenues, Zoley said.

But company officials suggested a widely-discussed Washington target of one 
million deported annually could be difficult in light of the constraints 
facing the operation.

Trump's multi-year fiscal package approved by Congress in July triples ICE's 
detention budget to $45 billion over four years. Administration officials 
have said they need 100,000 beds at detention centers to reach their mass-
deportation goals.

Zoley estimated that private companies currently have capacity for 75,000 or 
80,000 beds, leaving a gap that could be met at military bases or by the US 
states.

"They are communicating with many red states in particular," said Zoley, who 
mentioned Florida, Texas and Louisiana among the Republican-controlled states 
whose public sectors are being enlisted.

"These are unchartered waters for the agency to expand their platform of 
detention nationally... to literally more than double the size of the 
previous administration," he said. "It can't be done overnight."

Shares of Geo rose 2.6 percent.

After the stock market closed, CoreCivic, the other leading private prison 
company, lifted its financial targets after reporting that second-quarter 
profits more than doubled to $38.5 million.