1983: The Reagan administration formed its Mass Immigration Emergency Plan

Which significantly expanded U.S. immigration detention by requiring that 10,000 immigration detention beds be located and ready for use at any given time. That same year, the Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, is formed in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the world’s first private prison company. Upon its creation, it was immediately awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ.