WASHINGTON — For a few hours Wednesday morning, the two biggest jailers in America’s deportation machine were going down while nearly everything else on Wall Street went up.
The Dow gained more than 1,000 points and the S&P 500 rose about 1.8% in early trading the day after Democrats won both chambers of Congress. GEO Group fell as much as 6.2% and CoreCivic 5.7%, according to Reuters. By the closing bell the drop had narrowed. GEO finished at $27.53, down 1.92%. CoreCivic closed near $30.52, down between 1.3% and 1.5% depending on the data feed.
The selloff measured one thing: fear of subpoenas. It did not reflect lost business. Both companies’ books show detention booming under President Trump’s crackdown, and Congress has already handed ICE money that runs through 2029. What changed Tuesday night is that, for the first time this administration, someone holding a gavel can ask these companies to explain themselves under oath.