The CEO of the private prison firm CoreCivic told investors on a Thursday call that his company has a value proposition for the federal government: American prison profiteers are less likely to draw legal challenges than foreign alternatives — an apparent reference to the infamous El Salvador prison housing immigrants who were illegally deported from the U.S.

CoreCivic is among the biggest players in the immigration detention business — and they’re looking to capitalize on contracts for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities under President Donald Trump.

Even as the companies celebrated profit opportunities on earnings calls this week, however, pushback is building in communities tapped to host their lockups.

Newark, New Jersey’s mayor rallied protesters outside a newly reactivated facility in his city. Leavenworth, Kansas, sued CoreCivic for reopening a facility there. Leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area are girding themselves for a fight against the use of an Air Force base for deportation. And two House representatives from Florida recently criticized conditions in ICE facilities in their state.

The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation push has spurred an increase in immigration detention. ICE facilities throughout the country are at or over capacity, and the federal government is making desperate attempts to expand its detention network. According to federal contracting documents, the agency wants to spend billions more for immigration detention.

“Unprecedented Opportunity”

The pushback is growing — but so is the Trump administration’s determination to feed the deportation pipeline. A tally by The Intercept shows that, since Trump took office, at least 10 facilities owned or operated by the two largest private prison companies — CoreCivic and GEO Group — have had their contracts created, renewed, or modified to detain immigrants. Other private prison companies and federal contractors have signed contracts for further immigration detention, including an

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