Biden orders an end to reliance on “private prisons”
US President Joe Biden issued a new order urging the Ministry of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons, and to recognize the central role that the government played in implementing discriminatory housing policies.
Before signing the order, Biden made a press statement in which he said that the US government needs to “completely change its approach” on the issue of racial equality, pointing out that the American nation is “less prosperous and secure, because of the ravages of systemic racism.”
He added, “We must change now, I know that it will take some time, but I know that we can do it, and I firmly believe that the nation is ready for change, but the government must change as well.” As the order is to end reliance on prisons run by the private sector, The Attorney General directs not to renew the Department of Justice’s contracts with private criminal detention facilities, and this step will effectively restore the Department of Justice to the same position it was in at the end of the administration of former US President Barack Obama.
“This is a first step to prevent companies from taking advantage of the prison,” Biden said. More than 14,000 federal inmates residing in privately run facilities make up a fraction of the approximately 152,000 federal inmates currently incarcerated.
Biden also directed, through a memorandum to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to take steps to promote a fair housing policy, and the memo calls for an examination of the regulatory effects of former US President Donald Trump’s regulatory actions, which may have undermined fair housing policies and laws.
