The Geo Group: We make profits off of human misery using taxpayer money in Grand Rapids and all around the world

Since June 4th, the public awareness around the existence of the ISAP office in Grand Rapids has increased, since ICE agents arrested and detained immigrants who were coming to their scheduled appointments at 545 Michigan St.

Since then, GR Rapid Response to ICE has been providing accompaniment to people who have appointments at that office, along with those who go to the ICE office at 517 Ottawa NW, just north of the 196 overpass.

A lot more people have also learned about what an ISAP office is. ISAP stands for Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which is a program operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that provides an alternative to detention for individuals in immigration proceedings. 

What is instructive about the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, is that it is run by BI Incorporated, which is a subsidiary of the GEO Group. The GEO Group is one of the largest private prison entities in the world, which also runs prisons that are specifically ICE Detention Centers.

In addition, BI Incorporated also sells location tracking devices, such as ankle bracelets or wrist bracelets that people have to wear, so that ICE or other cops can monitor their whereabouts.

Think about it this way. The people who come to appointments at the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, are in the ICE system. They have to access the BI SmartLINK app, which allows “for real-time communication between officers and clients,” according to the BI Incorporated page. If they have a wrist or ankle bracelet, that is also provided by BI Incorporated. When they come to an appointment at the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, that is owned by BI Incorporated. Lastly, if they are detained by ICE agents while coming to their appointments, which is what happened on June 4, they will be sent to detention, which will soon mean that they will be sent to the GEO Group ICE detention facility in Baldwin, Michigan.

This is what Capitalists call a perfect loop, since every step in the process is owned and operated by the same company, the GEO Group. Not surprising, in 2024, the GEO Group contributed $3,718,518 to political candidates and they spent $1,380,000 lobbying Congress to adopt laws that would make them even more money. To top it off, all of these contract that the GEO Group has, along with their subsidiary BI Incorporated, are government contracts through ICE. This means that taxpayers foot the bill for the hellish systems used to track, monitor, manage, arrest and detain immigrants.

For those wanting to resist what happens at the ISAP office here in Grand Rapids, follow GR Rapid Response to ICE on Facebook and Instagram. For those who want to be involved in a campaign to shut down the GEO Group detention facility in Baldwin, follow the group No Detention Centers Michigan.