Scholars have well-established the socio-political and legal history of immigrant detention as a form of racialized social control in the United States. In recent years, private prison companies have benefited financially from this system, amassing sizeable profits in spite of vast criticisms and concerns. For this project, we focus on how private immigration detention—as a modern-day form of racialized social control—is normalized. Using the theoretical concept of controlling images, we examine how private prison companies frame the people they detain. Results from our analysis of 143 press releases indicate that private prisons rarely talk about the people they detain. Instead, the companies make vague and indirect references using inanimate objects which dehumanizes them. When the companies do reference migrants, they often characterize them as wards of the state, and in doing so, private prison companies are infantilizing people in lockup in subtle ways. Companies also engage in a significant amount of rhetoric that champions their organizations as they bolster their business amidst scandals and allegations. We conclude that these controlling images, while appearing race neutral, are quite effective in contributing to the invisibility of these groups and maintenance of the status quo. These actions further their exploitable quality by reproducing the oppression of racial others and simultaneously function to legitimize the business practices of private prison companies.

中文翻译：

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没有移民的私人移民拘留：当代控制图像的微妙使用

学者们已经确立了移民拘留的社会政治和法律历史，作为美国种族化社会控制的一种形式。近年来，私营监狱公司从该系统中获得了经济利益，尽管受到了广泛的批评和担忧，但仍积累了可观的利润。对于这个项目，我们关注私人移民拘留——作为一种现代形式的种族化社会控制——是如何正常化的。使用控制图像的理论概念，我们研究了私人监狱公司如何陷害他们被拘留的人。我们对 143 份新闻稿的分析结果表明，私人监狱很少谈论他们拘留的人。取而代之的是，这些公司使用使他们失去人性的无生命物体进行模糊和间接的引用。当公司确实提到移民时，他们经常将他们描述为国家的监护人，在这样做的过程中，私人监狱公司正在以微妙的方式使被关押的人幼稚。公司在丑闻和指控中支持自己的业务时，也会使用大量的言论来支持他们的组织。我们得出的结论是，这些控制图像虽然看起来是种族中立的，但在促进这些群体的隐形和维持现状方面非常有效。这些行动通过复制对其他种族的压迫来进一步提高其可利用的质量，同时使私人监狱公司的商业行为合法化。公司在丑闻和指控中支持自己的业务时，也会使用大量的言论来支持他们的组织。我们得出的结论是，这些控制图像虽然看起来是种族中立的，但在促进这些群体的隐形和维持现状方面非常有效。这些行动通过复制对其他种族的压迫来进一步提高其可利用的质量，同时使私人监狱公司的商业行为合法化。公司在丑闻和指控中支持自己的业务时，也会使用大量的言论来支持他们的组织。我们得出的结论是，这些控制图像虽然看起来是种族中立的，但在促进这些群体的隐形和维持现状方面非常有效。这些行动通过复制对其他种族的压迫来进一步提高其可利用的质量，同时使私人监狱公司的商业行为合法化。