Private prison firm CoreCivic sees Trump's mass deportation agenda as "catalyst" for growth

On an investor call, executives at one of the largest private prison companies in the United States, CoreCivic, said that “it wouldn’t surprise us” if the GOP-controlled Congress and administration struck deals to ramp up capacity in ICE’s private detention even before the next budget is finished.

As part Republicans’ mass deportation agenda, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan has said that ICE will need a minimum of 100,000 beds in detention centers around the country, more than double the current 46,000 that are available.

Earlier this year, the House passed a continuing resolution that funded the government through the end of the current fiscal year. While some of the budget maintained spending at current levels, House Republicans included around $9.9 billion for ICE, around $485 million more than was previously allocated. While Republicans are expected to allocate more money in their budget this summer, money from the continuing resolution could pay for some of the additional beds. President Donald Trump has in the current budget negotiations requested a massive $65 billion increase to the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part. The department's current budget is $44 billion.

While Homan had previously told CNN that “It all depends on the funding I get from the Hill,” CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger told investors on a May 8 call that “it wouldn’t surprise us if we get another letter contract or two prior to reconciliation.” Specifically, the CEO suggested that the company had opportunities in their Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, and the California City facility, north of Los Angeles.

“I think there's a chance to get these done before reconciliation,” Hininger said.

The discussion of pre-budget deals was only a small part of a larger, rosy report to investors from CoreCivic executives. The largest private prison contractor in the United States, CoreCivic's executives and investors were celebrating a better-than-expected first quarter of 2025. The conversation mostly revolved around increased utilization of facilities and the expansion of facilities, including potentially “soft-sided type” structures, and around military bases.

“Based on cost management and increased bed utilization, particularly from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), we exceeded our internal expectations for the first quarter,” Hininger said in his quarterly statement to investors. “Additionally, we have begun to re-activate three previously idle facilities under multiple agreements with ICE.”

During the call, Hininger denied having any inside knowledge of Republicans’ machinations in terms of a budget reconciliation deal. He did, however, say that he thinks the deal “will be a catalyst” for their company’s future growth. In the first quarter of 2025, CoreCivic reported a net income of $25.1 million. The company operates 16 immigration detention centers, mostly scattered across the American south and southwest, as well as 43 private prisons across the country.

“I talked about our capacity in Tennessee and Oklahoma and Colorado will probably be the next round of most attractive capacity to ice. It feels like we'll get additional engagement on that again in the coming days and weeks. I don't think this reconciliation has to get done for them to engage with us again,” Hininger said. “I wouldn't be surprised to call us tomorrow and say ‘Hey, we're ready to do a letter contract on — name a facility – Diamondback. But we do feel like reconciliation will be a catalyst.”

The call also featured an investor question and answer session, in which one investor asked whether the company saw overseas prisons, like the one the Trump admin is planning to send immigrants to in Libya, as competition.

“We don't see them as competition. And I think there's probably strategic and political reasons why some of those locations make sense. But again, for all the reasons we've talked about, you know — 42 years of business, highest quality, best audit scores, logistically more favorable, obviously, not only just location wise, but we can provide, provide transportation — and less likely to get challenged in the courts, which, you know, we're seeing that obviously play out more and more here in the last few weeks,” Hininger said.

According to Open Secrets, CoreCivic spent around $1.8 million on lobbying in 2024 and around $250,000 in donations to congressional candidates, with 96% of that money going to Republicans.