Halliburton's Immigrant Detention Centers

Halliburton's Immigrant Detention Centers

By Ruth Conniff

http://progressive.org/mag_rcb041706
The Progressive
April 17, 2006

While thousands of people were celebrating the
contribution America's undocumented immigrants make to
our economy, and demanding justice and recognition for

workers who are denied basic rights, the government was
making plans for large-scale detention centers in case
of an "emergency influx" of immigrants.

KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary recently reprimanded

for gross overcharging in its military contracts in
Iraq, won a $385 million contract to build the centers.
According to the Halliburton website--
www.Halliburton.com--"the contract, which is effective

immediately, provides for establishing temporary
detention and processing capabilities to augment
existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program
facilities in the event of an emergency influx of
immigrants into the
U.S., or to support the rapid
development of new programs."

What new programs might those be?

The web was abuzz with speculation after the contract
was awarded on January 24. Pacific News Service gave

the most detailed analysis.

It connected the new "immigration emergency" plans with
older plans that involved imposing martial law.

Certainly the detention centers raise the specter of WW

II Japanese internment camps.

The new facilities could be used for round-ups of
Muslim Americans or other American citizens tagged as
"enemy combatants.'

The use of military personnel and military contractors

in the event of a Katrina-like disaster, which the
Halliburton contract provides for, brings us closer to
martial law, whether it is officially declared or not.

It also means record profits for Halliburton, which

declared 2005 "the best in our 86-year history." David
Lesar, Halliburton's chairman, president and CEO,
declares on the company website, "For the full year
2005 we set a record for revenue and achieved net

income of $2.4 billion with each of our six divisions
posting record results."

Not bad for a company that has been repeatedly cited
for inflating charges and wasting taxpayer money in
Iraq.


The immigration detention centers ought to raise a red
flag, not just about nepotism and waste among military
contractors, but about what our government has in store
for us.

Perhaps the same energy that propelled immigrant rights

into the national headlines could be harnessed to
demand an explanation for what, exactly, Halliburton is
helping to prepare for with this latest big chunk of
taxpayer largess.

Ruth Conniff covers national politics for The

Progressive and is a voice of The Progressive on many
TV and radio programs.

(c) 2006 the Progressive