logo
episode-header-image
Sep 18
50m 24s

The Business of Migrant Detention

NPR
About this episode
The U.S. immigration detention system is spread out across federal facilities, private prisons, state prisons, and county jails. It’s grown under both Democratic and Republican presidents. And it’s been offered up as a source of revenue for over a century, beginning with the first contracts between the federal government and sheriffs along the Canadian border.

Guests:

Brianna Nofil, assistant professor of history at The College of William and Mary author of The Migrant's Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration

To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.



Love podcasts? For handpicked recommendations every Friday, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club here.

If you want to learn more about the history of Cuban migration to the U.S. and the Mariel Boatlift, check out season 2 of White Lies.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Oct 2
From the Frontlines
Journalism is under unprecedented threat worldwide. At least 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza alone since the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel; the Committee to Protect Journalists says it’s the deadliest conflict for journalists the group has ever documented. ... Show More
51m 44s
Sep 30
Throughline Sleeps
Life can be tough. Every day brings new challenges. And in order to get through the waking hours we need rest. Good quality sleep. In this bonus episode, a companion to our episode "The Way We Dream," we offer you a 30-minute audio journey into the deep. A smooth trip into the pl ... Show More
30 m
Sep 25
The Anti-Vaccine Movement
The alleged link between vaccines and autism is back in the news this week, being regularly speculated on by both President Trump and Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The claim has been repeatedly disproven: there is no evidence that vaccines and autism a ... Show More
49m 25s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 22
One of ICE’s biggest detention facilities is plagued by problems
The Trump administration is moving fast on a plan to create several holding centers around the country for people detained in a nationwide immigration crackdown. One facility in particular has been rife with problems.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Conside ... Show More
9m 52s
Oct 2024
Brianna Nofil, "The Migrant's Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration" (Princeton UP, 2024)
Today, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains an average of 37,000 migrants each night. To do so, they rely on, and pay for, the use of hundreds of local jails. But this is nothing new: the federal government has been detaining migrants in city and county jails for ... Show More
39m 39s
Aug 25
What a day in immigration court is like now
The Trump administration is deploying a new strategy to speed up deportations. Government lawyers are asking immigration judges to dismiss on-going cases. Then, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrest people as soon as they step out of the courtroom. The process is oft ... Show More
11m 58s
Jun 2025
ENCORE: Watergate | The President's Decision | 2
The Washington Post begins investigating a mysterious crime. President Nixon confronts a crisis. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter Listen to American Scandal on the Wondery ... Show More
41m 24s
Nov 2024
Guy Fawkes | The British Scandal School Trip | 4
The Tower of London is the place where the stories of so many British criminals have come to an end, including Guy Fawkes. Matt and Alice pack their lunchboxes and take a tour with the tower's curator, Dr Alden Gregory. On the agenda: the actual room where the Gunpowder Plotters ... Show More
30m 38s
Jun 2025
Georgia Tann Interview | Guest T.J. Raphael "Liberty Lost" Podcast Host | 5
Decades after Georgia Tann’s black market adoption ring was exposed, similar patterns of coercion and control are still unfolding across the U.S. At the Liberty Godparent Home in Lynchburg, Virginia, young pregnant women are isolated, shamed, and pressured into giving up their ba ... Show More
42m 56s
Oct 2024
Jamestown | The Great Reforms | 4
In April 1613, years of bloody warfare culminated in the kidnapping of the paramount chief Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas. The English colonists in Jamestown offered to return her in exchange for stolen weapons, English prisoners, and corn, but their proposal was met with silence ... Show More
39m 50s
Mar 2025
ICE on Campus
Immigration arrests are taking place at universities across the country. The story of three Columbia students helps explain what’s happening, and why.Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration policy, lays out what their cases reveal about the latest immigration crackdown — and about ... Show More
26m 24s
Feb 2025
Muhammad Ali vs. The Draft | What’s My Name? | 2
In 1967, Muhammad Ali officially refuses induction into the U.S. military, standing firm in his religious objection to the Vietnam War. He is stripped of his heavyweight title, barred from boxing, and sentenced to five years in prison. Ali fights back with appeals while strugglin ... Show More
40m 13s
Aug 2023
Part One: Escape from the Magdalene Laundries: Surviving & Fighting Theocracy in Ireland
Margaret talks with writer and podcast host Sarah Marshall about the prisons for "fallen women" around the UK, US & Ireland, and the many people who fought against them, like Sinéad O'Connor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
1 h