Selling a Private Prison to Lawmakers: A Primer in Three Acts, by Southwest Ranches and CCA
Categories: Outlaw Town
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In the case of the new private immigrant detention facility that's been "fast-tracked" to go up in an ugly corner of Southwest Ranches, contractor CCA and the town wanted a lot of congressional support.
Below, we see how they found a willing ally in Sen. Marco Rubio, carefully choreographed their courtship of Allen West, and got Debbie Wasserman Schultz to sign a letter of support written by Sen. Bill Nelson's office.
The emails tell the tale. Residents who oppose the prison have begun posting on Facebook the fruits of their public-records requests. (More to come in our continued attention to this story.)
First off, in late January, just after pushing through an amendment to double the planned size of the facility, Southwest Ranches and CCA reps prepared for a February 9 meeting with ICE officials. They already had the support of Rubio -- who offered to come to the meeting as a booster.
But his presence might have attracted unwanted attention to the matters at hand.
CCA's attorney, Sam Poole, sent Southwest Ranches Attorney Keith Poliakoff a word of caution. "CCA is greatly concerned that having a U.S. Senator attend the February 9 meeting with ICE staff would call external attention to the meeting and create a level of discomfort among the reviewers..." Full email below; click to enlarge.
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Below, in preparation for the meeting, the high-ranking CCA executive Lucibeth Mayberry gives instructions for the presentation, including suggestions for Southwest Ranches Mayor Jeff Nelson. We should note, the highlights in the email below were done by the resident who requested the email and opposes the project.
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Then, finally, there's the matter of the local congressional representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who co-signed a letter of support for the facility along with Sen. Bill Nelson. In the months to follow, she would write to Nelson decrying the "paucity of information" provided to residents and host a contentious town-hall meeting between residents and pro-prison officials.
But that letter of support didn't start in her office. In fact, in this email sent on April 1, Nelson's office sends CCA attorney Sam Poole Becker & Poliakoff lobbyist Omar Franco a draft of the letter. In a preface, Nelson staffer Jenny Solomon mentions Coby Dolan, Wasserman Schultz's legislative director.
"Feel free to share with Coby if his boss [Wasserman Schultz] wants to join," she wrote.
Eventually, his boss would sign the letter.
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Stefan Kamph is a New Times staff writer.
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