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PartialCriminal Justice, Policing & Public Safety

Biden will end the federal government's use of private prisons and detention centers, building off an Obama-Biden Administration's policy rescinded by the Trump Administration. And, he will make clear that the federal government should not use private facilities for any detention, including detention of undocumented immigrants.

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PartialFact-checker reviewConfidence: 90%

Independently verified. This two-part promise was half kept, half failed, which is the definition of PARTIAL. Part 1 (end federal use of private prisons/detention, restoring the rescinded Obama-Biden policy): Biden signed Executive Order 14006 on Jan 26, 2021, directing DOJ not to renew contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities; the Bureau of Prisons transferred all inmates out of private facilities by Nov 2022 — a concrete, binding, executed action. Part 2 (make clear the government should not use private facilities for ANY detention, INCLUDING undocumented immigrants): never enacted — the EO explicitly excluded ICE/DHS, and private immigration detention grew from roughly 79-81% at the start of the administration to 90.8% by July 2023. PolitiFact's exact-match promise entry (#1531) rates this 'Compromise,' and its immigration-specific sub-promise (#1613) is rated 'Broken' — both independently corroborate a partial keeping. (Note: the prior rating's 'Stalled' characterization reflected an interim PolitiFact status that was later finalized as Broken/Compromise; substance unchanged.) The rating is non-partisan: an affirmative binding EO delivering one explicit half rules out MISALIGNED/IGNORED, while the explicit, emphasized immigration half failing (and moving backward) rules out FULL. Sources are real, live, and support the outcome.

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