The Power of the Private Prison Industry

How the Supreme Court’s Ruling that undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and immigrants seeking asylum can be held indefinitely may end up hurting Copts.

Martin Niemoller, an anti-Nazi Lutheran Pastor living in Germany during Hitler’s reign, who ended up in a concentration camp himself, is known for speaking out about injustice. In his most well-known statement, Niemoller says:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-

Because i was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me- and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Niemoller’s quote shines a light on the truth about not speaking out; eventually, evil will kill everything in its path, and it will make its way towards you.

If that’s not enough of a reason to care, we as Christians are called to “seek justice” and “correct oppression” (Isaiah 1:17); we are called to “open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute,” and to “defend the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:8–9).

As an American Copt, Niemoller’s quote really resonated with me. From my point of view, it seems as if so many Copts react and are rightfully heartbroken whenever other Copts in Egypt are killed, tortured, or imprisoned. But when it happens in other places in the world- even right here on American soil- all I hear are crickets.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that all immigrants who aren’t American citizens- whether illegal or green card holder or even asylum seekers- can be held indefinitely in prisons.

While many may not think this applies to or affects them, this decision warrants a reaction from both ends of the political spectrum. The only real winners here are For-Profit Prisons, which are privately owned prisons that make their money off of human incarceration.

Whether you identify with Right or Left wing ideology, there are some important things to consider about this situation. Instead of deporting illegal immigrants back to their countries, they are keeping them here in prison essentially forever on American soil.

The owners of these private prisons are making a lot of money, but do you know who is paying for them? Tax payers.

Not to mention, families are being torn apart based on race and immigration status for the sake of a multi-billion dollar industry.

As Americans, this is definitely something we should be paying attention to . After all, we all may have different opinions on illegal immigration, but to indefinitely hold LEGAL immigrants seems unconstitutional.

And finally, as Egyptians and as Copts, we should be nervous. Just like Niemoller predicted, evil its paving its path towards us. While many Copts are split on the topic of immigration due to the fact that there are so few Egyptian illegal immigrants (it’s hard to sneak into America when you’re coming in from halfway across the world), there are many, many Egyptian Green Card holders. Additionally, there are a number of Copts here who are seeking asylum from the Egypt due to various abuses and levels of discrimination.

This untold number of people are at just as much risk as anyone else of getting torn away from their families and being held in a prison for the rest of their lives, their bodies being used as money-making machines.

What the private prison industry has created is essentially the Capitalist version of a concentration camp based on race and immigration status.

Every year, the private prison industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying Homeland Security to tighten immigration laws; after all, they have an economic incentive to have stricter laws, since they own most of America’s Immigration Detention Centers.

While I do believe in Jesus’s words that vengeance will be His, I also believe that we have a duty to fight injustice against the orphan, the widow, and in this specific case, the traveler.

And if that isn’t enough to convince you, just remember that many of the people you love and see every Sunday are travelers as well.