>>211519601US prisons are for-profit. During the 90s prisons used lobbying money to expand the definition of felony and push for mandatory minimum sentences.
The result is, while distracted by talk about immigration or border hopping, the USA is about to have 2 million people hit the streets who've been imprisoned for 5to 10 years. Their coming from the shittiest environment imaginable, and it helps keep the people terrified of each other, the 1% safe.