{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398214", "Polis criticizes private immigration detention centers, welcomes action", "2016-08-30", "2016", "2016-08", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Jared Polis", "P000598", "polis.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Boulder, Colo. \u2013 Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) welcomed news that the Dept. of Homeland Security will review its use of private contractors to operate immigration detention centers.\u00a0 Colorado has a massive, private, 1,500+ bed immigration detention facility located in Aurora, just off of I-70.\r\nThe Dept. of Homeland Security\u2019s decision follows the Department of Justice\u2019s announcement on Aug. 18 that it will end its use of for-profit prisons.\r\n\"The majority of immigrants who are subject to our immigration detention system \u2013 including many asylum seekers, women and children \u2013 are held in expensive, private facilities that filter billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded government contracts to two morally bankrupt corporations. Taxpayers are forced to pay over a hundred dollars a night per person for months on end,\u201d said Polis.\r\n\u201cIf the use of private facilities is detrimental to our criminal justice system, as the Dept. of Justice recently determined, it follows that private facilities should also be avoided in our civil immigration system. For-profit detention centers with tiered pricing schemes incentivize the prolonged detention of the greatest number of immigrants possible and are fundamentally inconsistent with our values as a nation.\u00a0 Taxpayers deserve better,\u201d Polis added.\u00a0\r\nPolis has been an advocate for reducing the use of immigration detention centers and closing private immigration detention centers.\u00a0 In 2012, Polis called for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate incidences of sexual violence against immigrants in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security.\u00a0 He has authored several columns on the topic, and is a vocal proponent of comprehensive immigration reform. \u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398214"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0234829969704151, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}