A private company holding more than a thousand migrant children at a detention camp in Florida scrapped plans to go public amid an outcry by critics who accused the corporation of profiting off children.
Virginia-based Caliburn International Corp., which runs the facility in Homestead, Fla., sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission halting the public offering.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the company blamed “variability in the equity markets” but said it continues to grow and may return to the offer in the future.
It had planned to sell up to $100 million in stock.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which takes custody of children crossing the Mexican border, said in December the center would expand to 2,350 beds from 1,350 after a center in Texas was closed.
Caliburn’s facility in Homestead, in the Miami suburbs, is one of the nation’s largest and the only one run by a for-profit company.
After touring the facility last month, federal officials expressed concern that Caliburn was selected to provide housing for more children than any other facility and that some teenagers were being held for months.
The average length of stay at Homestead increased to 67 days in December from just 25 days last June.
“While I’m pleased that Caliburn abandoned its plans to go public now, they are still profiting off of the Trump Administration’s inhumane immigration policies,” Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.), whose district includes Homestead, said in a statement. “Migrant children are still being locked up in Homestead, and I haven’t received a clear answer why they remain there longer than at a government shelter.”
Protesters gathered outside the facility Tuesday to condemn the federal government for helping a private company expand by offering contracts to hold children.
“As children await their freedom, the company is making a lot of money. It is supposed to be a temporary shelter, but this is being run as a business,” said Maria Bilbao, of the organization United We Dream.
With Post wires
