Trump's Homeland Security pays CoreCivic $1.47B for two ICE prisons

On July 2, 2026, CoreCivic completed the sale of two California immigration detention facilities, the 2,560-bed California City Detention Facility and the 1,994-bed Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, to the U.S. government through the Department of Homeland Security. The gross sale price was about $1.47 billion ($732.6 million for California City and $739.2 million for Otay Mesa), with CoreCivic estimating net proceeds of roughly $1.1 billion after taxes and expenses. CoreCivic said it expects to continue operating both facilities under its existing management contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and that it had been in discussions with ICE about selling additional detention facilities to the government. The company said it would use the proceeds to repay debt and potentially repurchase its own shares. The sale came as the private-prison industry posted record results under the administration's detention expansion: CoreCivic's full-year income rose about 69% to $116.5 million and GEO Group reported a record profit of about $254 million. In announcing the sale, CoreCivic tied growing federal demand for its facilities to presidential executive orders and the policies of the current administration.