More than 50 activists lined the sidewalk in front of the headquarters of the Corrections Corporation of America on Friday along the 8000 block of Shoal Creek Boulevard, accusing the corporation of running for-profit prisons.
The Corrections Corporation of America is the largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities in the nation, according to the Texas Civil Rights Review. It runs the T. Don Hutto detention facility in Taylor, Texas, which has been under recent scrutiny for policies concerning the imprisonment of immigrant children and families awaiting their immigration hearings.
"It sickens me they're taking families and children and putting them in cells," said Laura Hitt, an concerned Austin resident and mother of three. "Especially being a mom, I can't imagine what it's like to be a mother and have kids in there or to live as a family in that type of situation."
Hitt heard about Friday's protest through a Listserv for peace organizations and is involved with Code Pink, a women-initiated group that focuses on peace and social justice movements.
"This is my first time to protest against CCA, but I'm outraged because of all the things the administration has done," Hitt said.
In addition to protesting against the corporation, some grassroots activists say immigrants will show up to their hearings and don't need to be imprisoned.
"Research shows that almost everyone would show back up to their immigration hearings, which proves [locking immigrants up] isn't necessary," said Bob Libal, an activist against CCA and facilities such as Hutto. "CCA are beneficiaries, and they didn't used to do these things."
Even if protesters don't have an impact in closing the corporation down, Jose Orta, the founding member of the Taylor council of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said it's important for everyone to do what they can.
"CCA needs to understand people in the community are holding it accountable for what it's doing," Orta said. "It's still in the mind set of treating people as prisoners. That's what its bread and butter is."
Orta said the corporation made some changes as a result of all the protesting outside the Hutto facility. CCA has rewritten manuals and hired an activity director for the children, the guards no longer dress in prison uniforms, and children receive seven hours of education a day, he said.
Before the protest, Orta's young niece asked him if his efforts are a waste of time and if he really thought people would change.
"I want the community to be aware [that protesting] is not a waste of time and what CCA is doing is unjust," Orta said. "It needs to treat prisoners like human beings."
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