havana, calling for both countries to stake more steps, and nine u.s. governors backed by ob, urging congress to lift a trade embargo for the benefit of american farmers. >> meanwhile the havana government assigned a -- signed a deal allowing sony to distribute 30 nouz cuban recordings, including a catalogue, for worldwide sale. unmistakable stench of

politics pervades immigration across the country. there is no escaping the smell of pandering. sanders and clinton both jockying for hispanic votes. meanwhile, president obama took aim at republicans who used to support immigration reform but changed their tones, a clear swipe at marco rubio. this might make you forget for a moment that the real issue is that americas immigration policy is badly broken. tonight i want to take a close look at an issue of real concern, the growing role that private, for-profit prison companies play in running immigration detention facilities. every year, more than 400,000 men, women, and children are held in some 250 detention centers while awaiting

immigration proceedings. the centers are run under the authority of the federal immigration and customs enforcement agency. it's called ice but nine out of the ten largest facilities are run by prison operators. they control 62% of all immigration detention beds in america raising all sorts of questions about how much influence these private companies have on elected officials making policy on immigration and on the nations criminal justice system. those questions and others center on the two largest prison cooperations, cca and the geo group. cca is corrections corporation of america. the combined revenue of these two companies reached $3.3 billion in 2014. about a third of imcame from

running immigration facilities. but here's the key question for poll situations at the receiving end of lobbying that's done by a prison industry loading up on detention dollars. are the detain knees receiving the proper treatment from companies that have an obligation to shareholders to maximize profits? we went to arizona to ioned out. >>reporter: about an hour south of phoenix into the desert and just off a deserted highway, center. >> when immigrants are housed, they're housed in these obscure detention centers. >>reporter: it's a federal facility under the authority of the department of homeland securities immigration and customs enforcement, or ice. but day-to-day operations are run by a private company called corrections corporation of america.

it's part of what is a troubling trend toward prisoners and profits colliding. >> when prisons become for-profit what's important is the bottom line. >>reporter: right now the cost is about $160 a day per detain detainee. critics say the cost savings are far from proven and focusing on the bottom line can result in inhumane and even conditions. >> there have been 14 deaths in the last 12 years. >>reporter: he runs a grass roots group in phoenix. >> we've seen people lose their babies, not have access to healthcare, not have access to adequate food, legal services, others have complained of being

treated as slaves. people inside these facilities work for a dollar a day. >>reporter: specific allegations of mistreatment are hard to confirm but cca says work programs at its facilities are in full compliance. at least five deaths were declared suicides there and most often cut costs on medical and security staffing. that can lead the higher levels of violence and an environment misconduct. >>reporter: you think the government could do a better job? >> it makes a difference when it's run by a for-profit company because it's that much harder to accountable. >>reporter: those companies are not subject to the same standards that govern federal agencies, and there's limited

state oversight. that's why he wants to shut it down. every monday night he holds a meeting for family members of the 1,500 men and women held there. she is a regular at these meetings. >> they don't have access to medication, they can only drink water if they feel sick, if they're in pain, water, if their stomach hurts, water. he's very afraid. >>reporter: her husband has been there since may. he's seeking asylum after already being deported back to mexico four times. but it's a detention center. some would say it's not supposed to be a nice place. >> well it's not paradise. it's hell. it's supposed to be a detention center, not a jail. they're not criminals.

they're not rapists or drug traffickers. >>reporter: what's your worst fear about your husband being there? >> that something might happen to him. that later he'll suffer some injury and that they'll say he took his own life. >>reporter: those fears stem from the latest death. on may 20th, authorities say a 31-year-old mexican national committed suicide by stuffing a sock in his throat. his family disputes the official finding saying he showed no signs of distress. >> if he had put the sock in his mouth, when would it have gone down his throat? this is why we're so angry, we don't know the truth. >>reporter: it was reported he was beaten before his death so we went inside to hear firsthand what he had to say. >> he was beaten in the area where i was. that's where he was beaten. he was screaming and begging the officers spare his life.

>>reporter: he says that's when some 200 detainees staged a six-day strike. >> we all panicked and felt we needed to organize. i think any person, any community would also have organized to make sure that it didn't also happen to us. >>reporter: he says he spent a month in solitary confinement for speaking out. a spokesperson refuted the allegations and said testifies disciplined for trying to organize a disturbance at the center. >> some have been put in isolation, solitary confinement. others have been told they'll get deported if they talk to the media. their phone privileges have been taken away. >>reporter: have you spoken to cca? >> we've attempted to contact cca numerous times. we've never had a response. we mostly communicate with immigration and customs

enforcement asking them to hold cca accountable. >>reporter: what's their response? >> they usually tell us they'll look into matters, that they're cca. but then too they get to hide behind cca. >>reporter: cca declined our request for an interview but said i had takes seriously the health and well being of those entrusted in our care and adheres to strict guidelines and requirements. >> there's much greater awareness of the private prison industry and the fundamental problems with their business model. but they still rake in enormous revenues. so they still are a force to be reckoned with. >>reporter: carl is an attorney at the national prison project of the aclu. immigration detention has been the $3 billion private prison industries fastest growing sector for years.

he points to big spending on lobbying congress as a big reason why. >> from 2008 to 2014, it's estimated the private prison industry spent more than $13 million on lobbying congress and much of that was focused on the committee that can allocate money for detention facilities. >>reporter: cca says it doesn't lobby for or take positions on detention laws. but he says the more detainees they have the more beds needed meaning more business for private prison companies. juan miguel seen here dancing with his daughter at her 15th birthday party probably won't be reunited with his family any time soon. a back log in immigration proceedings has kept some people inside for years. what will you do next? >> right now, i'm going to try to continue fighting for my case and, well, i trust in god. i trust in god.

i trust that there is justice in him. >>reporter: and what do you tell your children? >> to for give me more not being with them right now. it's out of my hands. >>reporter: as a mexican citizen, odds are less than 5% he will be granted asylum. for now, all his children can look forward to is their weekly visit. >> i wait for saturdays every week. all week long. >> it's relieving to just see he's okay. but it's also, like, when you know that lady comes up to you and says you have five minutes left tft you know, it's, like, okay, you have to quickly hadding your dad and say good-bye. quite an allegation about that man who died in detention who they say committed suicide. his family says that's not likely.

what does the government say? >> ice has said this man was take ge into a medical unit for evaluation and was being restrained and say this is really a protocol when someone is they believe a danger to himself or someone else inside the facility. now, they said that he was restrained but others say that's not what they heard. they believe that he was beaten before he died. >> so we saw the press conference at which the family was talking about it. what recourse do they have and is anything different because they're a private corporation? >> ice is holding their investigation and local authorities are holding an investigation but this is where watch dog groups say this is about accountability. because private businesses do not have to adhere to the same freedom of information laws that federal agencies do. and they say that these teeth. >> the people here are not there because of other criminal charges; right? they're there because of

immigration violation easieasie >> right. they've not been committed of a crime. it's a civil violation. so basically -- that's unlawful presence within the country -- so when they're in these detention centers, they're really waiting for their immigration cases to proceed to be resolved. >> we have covered economics for a long time. what's the economics of this? is this evidence it is cheaper to detain them using private corporations? >> the private industry points to a study that says they can save anywhere between 12 and 58% of taxpayer money in the long run. if you look at that study though, they help fund i had. other studies say it's actually more expensive for them to be inside a private facility facility. when you compare all of them, there's no guarantee you're actually going to have a lot of cost saving. if there is any, it's usually minimal. >> all right.

these are private companies making a profit. coming up, i'll talk to a man who says closing private detention centers would be worse for you, the taxpayer. >> puerto rico's debt crisis. >> they're gonna demonstrate right outside where the governor lives. >> are hedge funds offering a fix? >> those investments will spark the economic recovery. >> or just fixing the odds? >> they're trying to force us into one course of action. >> "faultlines". >> what do we want? >> al jazeera america's hard-hitting... >> today the will be arrested. >> ground-breaking... >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning, investigative series.

i am talking about the collision of politics, profits, and prisons.

a few weeks ago senator sanders introduced a bill banning the use of private immigration detention centers and all private prisons. he says america needs to start treating prisoners as human beings and not as profit makers. adrian, thank you for being with us. this is an important topic. critics say there's a perverse incentive structure in place for private prison companies because they have a need to maximize profits and increase value meaning cutting costs and results in sub par conditions. what's your response? >> my response is that every part of our economy depends on that to make things better. if the profit motive always led to things being worse, wouldn't everything be worse?

and don't we see every day in our lives the profit motive leading companies to figure out how to do things better and more efficiently? that's what you're trying to capture when you contract with one of these private companies. >> we'll save the conversation later about whether profit motives always do better for society. we'll skip the conversation about the great recession that was driven by profit. but let's get back to prison. these are not problems the government has and frankly i'm okay with that. the government does things that the private industry doesn't do because the government doesn't have to make a profit on it. >> that's true. but you're sort of missing what the actual tension that's going on here. the private prison companies don't make more money if more people are put in prison. they make more money if they get

to run more of the facilities that exist. even if -- >> they run more facilities prison. >> if you have the same number of prisoners and they get to operate more of them, they make more money. here's the crux: the government prison fe guards also need more people to be in prison for them to make more money and for their unions to grow. all you have to do is compare. your reporter pointed out that people think they might be lobbying these private companies might be lobbying for more people to be incarcerated but there's no actual evidence of that. it just seems like a logical conclusion. in fact, people have been digging for decades trying to find one example, one, of a private prison company lobbying for more people to be locked up. it's it's never been found. >> that's just wrong. that is just absolutely untrue.

there are judges in pennsylvania who have gone to jail because they jailed people for shoplifting and sent them because they were getting kick backs from private prisons. so that's just not true. you can't say that. >> yes, there was an an example of corruption in pennsylvania. >> an example of corruption in pennsylvania? it was a dirty system. >> yes. >> it wasn't one person who went to jail. >> i'm just using your argument. there's not been one single example of private prisons causing corruption. i just gave you one off the top of my head. i didn't even need google for that one. you're just wrong. that's just incorrect. >> okay. i'm arguing if you can find it, great. i'm saying people have been looking for those examples. >> let's move on. >> i admitted that it's an example of corruption. i said lobbying. >> okay. let's talk about

lobbying. through lobbying and campaign contributions -- >> i overlooked the one. >> i'd be willing to put good money on the fact that there's more than the one that i just thought off the top of my head. candidates. >> yeah, lots of money. >> that's true. >> lots of money. >> to both sides. >> which did this become a democratic and republican thing? >> i didn't say that. i just said they give to both parties. the prison guards union in california alone gives more money to politics than the entire private prison industry. worse than that, they directly put millions of dollars into lobbying for more people to lock more people up. the private prison industry does not do that. >> okay. >> they lobby to win contracts. they lobby for there's a prison over there.

we want to run it. >> you don't think that influences law makers to make decisions more in the interest of their funding than in the publics interest? >> it might but they're outspent at least 10 to 1 by the prison guard unions. i think the government prison guard unions have vastly more influence on those questions than private industry ever will. >> would it inflounce you if you got funding from cca or the geo group? >> no. >> do you get funding from cca or the geo group? >> i get -- i believe my company gets some funding from the geo group but not from cca. >> i was thinking about that. the pennsylvania case by the way, i don't think it's the exception. in 2013, pennsylvania, you know, canceled all of its contracts with private operators. you know why they did that right? >> yes.

>> they did not think it was working. >> right. well, they had a really bad case of corruption and they -- >> the one. >> -- walked away from it. though you don't talk about it in the piece. all of these problems exist in the government-run facilities as well across the country. >> we'll agree incarceration in this country is generally handled badly on all fronts. thank you for being with me. >> thank you coming up, higher learning behind bars, how it's helping transform hardened criminals in california. >> killing of journalists is a question that is directed to society. >> they are impartial. >> if you wanted to be a good journalist in iraq, you had to risk your life. >> they observe and report. >> kidnapping is a very real problem. >> journalists on the front lines. >> sometimes that means risking death. >> getting the story, no matter what it takes.

>> that's what the fourth estate is all about. that's why i'm risking my life.

>> i've been asked to

it's how hassed some of californias most notorious inmates. the state has not given up on them though. instead it offers a unique education program that aims to transform lives. classroom. >>reporter: metal bars, sterile cells, locked doors. mundane, stifling, uninspiring. but just mind the main yard down an ally lined with

barbed wire, class is in session. >> argument for abevent. >>reporter: u.s. history taught by an instructor from the university of california at davis. it's a demanding workload that challenges, stimulates, and ignites the mind of some of californias most hardened criminals. he is 16 years into a sentence of 30 years to life in californias most notorious prison. and he is working towards his associate agree. he is learning about imperialism and much more at the prison university project. >> it shows me i have the ability to learn and succeed and be better. >>reporter: this is the only on-site higher education program in any california prison. about 330 are enrolled and about 200 are on the wait list.

instructors from stanford, ucberkelec went other schools volunteer their time. it's funded by private donations. word has spread among inmates and beyond these walls that this program can help lay the foundation to build a new beginning on the outside, a life that would include better job prospects, more life skills, and a renewed sense of home, confidence, and sense of worth. >> james houston is an example of the transformation. after serving 18 years for second-degree murder, houston is out of prison and he's giving back. houston is employed by richmond to help mentor and support young men in the community who are considered likely to become involved in gun violence. tell me how the prison life.

>> i felt like with all the tools i gained going and seeing how important education was taking those life skills classes, becoming leadership in the groups there, i felt like i passion. >>reporter: the director of the project says in california, about 70% of released prisoners returned to prison within three years but she says the rate is 17% for those who were students. none was for a violent crime. what would you say to people who say you don't deserve this? >> well, what i would say, i would have to say this, what type of people would they like coming back into society? uneducated people who have no knowledge, no wisdom about life in general or would they prefer someone like myself who is developing the skills and techniques and the ability to articulate and to learn and to grasp different concepts and

ideas about life in general. that's our show for today. thank you for joining us. two people, one patch of land and permanently contradictory visions of the future. tensions have been rising in jerusalem and israeli occupied areas captured in the 1967 war and still disputed territory. palalestinians are attacking and promised land? it's the "inside story." ♪