Private prisons are already booming under President Trump

The federal money hose is back on

Private prisons are back.
(Image credit: David McNew/Getty Images)

The new Trump administration has been met with a wave of business optimism. But few are quite as enthusiastic as the private prison industry.

Two of the biggest players in the business, GEO Group and CoreCivic — the latter formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) — saw their stock jump right after Trump's election. As of late February, GEO's stock was up 98 percent and CoreCivic's was up 137 percent. The industry is even opening at least two new for-profit centers in Georgia and Texas.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.