The Importance Of Prisons In The United States

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“Preliminary figures indicate ... an overall increase of 1.7 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention for the first 6 months of 2015 when compared with figures reported for the same time in 2014”(FBI, Uniform Crime Reports). Privately owned prisons are sprouting up all across the nation, such as the Corrections Corporation of America with 71 different locations in 18 states (CCA). Immigration is a problem in the United States, and the question is what to do with the large population of illegal immigrants residing in the US. They should either be sent back to their home country or grant them a chance of gaining citizenship rather than be detained or imprisoned. Also, taking preventive measures through making more laws and regulations for gun owners will decrease the crime rate. To stop the increasing crime rate in America the government should take preventative measures such as closing privately owned prisons, stopping the imprisonment of immigrants, and applying stricter gun laws and regulations. Prisons, whose goal is to gain a profit from imprisoning people, are not moral nor fair to the prisoners. …show more content…
These prisons, such as the CCA, have contracts with the local government which state the government will fill the prison to at least 80 percent capacity. The CCA alone was reported to have made a sizable 3.3 billion dollar profit over the past year (Michael Cohen). By closing these prisons, it would stop the government from arresting citizens on minor infractions because they need to fill the CCA’s quota or else they will lose their contract and the money that goes along with it. These major corporations are bribing politicians and major companies, such as Hillary Clinton and Bank of America, into keeping them stable and powerful. “Lobbying firms that work for two major private prison giants, GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America, gave $133,246 to the Ready for Hillary PAC”( Elise Foley). By giving money toward political campaigns, their goal is to get people on their side into office and persuade politicians to make decisions that benefit them. Illegal immigrants in America should be given the chance of gaining citizenship if they comply with the necessary terms rather than being imprisoned. Why incarcerate illegal immigrants when it would cost much less to send them back to their home country or give them a citizenship test? “American taxpayers paid approximately $1.87 billion to house imprisoned illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2014 (Joel Gehrke). The states should grant these illegal immigrant, some living here for decades, citizenship rather than having them hide from the law, working under the table, or being imprisoned for no reason other than their ethnic background. The majority of illegal immigrants stay away from crime in fear of being found or caught, yet they are imprisoned for years, when there are far worse criminals committing violent crimes in America. Gun control is a popular issue in the upcoming presidential election. Hillary Clinton, opposing most of her presidential opponents, argues that the ordinary citizen should not be allowed to own or carry any gun. Stricter regulations about who is allowed to own a gun will take the guns out of the mass shooters hands and put it into those who enjoy it as a sport. By screening people with intent to buy a gun with both psychiatric tests and physical tests, it should keep guns out of the wrong hands. There are also major loopholes in gun buying regulations today, such as gun conventions, where anyone can purchase military grade weapons no questions asked. Nobody in America needs a military grade weapon sitting in there house because there is no use for it in today 's society. “The overall homicide rate, among the metro areas whose principal city is in a state that requires some form of permit to purchase a gun, is 4.32 per 100,000 residents, compared with 5.74 among cities in no-permit states. This certainly does not confirm the gun control = higher violent crime hypothesis. Quite the opposite” (David H. Bailey). This shows that areas with gun regulations have a lower homicide rate than those with no gun regulations. Although all these arguments are completely valid, there is another side to

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