CoreCivic, the private prison company based in Brentwood, Tenn., urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, two days after the Democratic Party’s historic wins in the 2026 midterm elections, to move quickly on buying more of its detention facilities, after selling four to the federal government for about $1.3 billion in profit after taxes.

Lucibeth Mayberry, CoreCivic’s president and CEO, spoke Thursday on a call with investors about the company’s third-quarter results, for July through September. She said CoreCivic is still in talks to sell more facilities. She said the price of the ones already sold “rests on the appraiser’s independent conclusion.” In other words, the price depends on what an independent appraiser decides the buildings are worth.

Mayberry said buying more facilities is a key part of the expansion of immigration detention. Asked whether the election results could affect those talks, she said the company is as ready as it was before the election and urged ICE to move quickly.

Mayberry called the sales “cash generating events.” She said they let the company pay off debt and buy back its own stock. She credited CoreCivic’s “strong third quarter results” to increased deportations and immigration sweeps across the country.

In a [quarterly report filed Wednesday](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001070985/000119312526447206/d165428dex991.htm) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CoreCivic said it sold four facilities with 7,187 beds to the Department of Homeland Security for $2.2 billion, before taxes and costs. They are the California City and Otay Mesa facilities in California, the Appleton Detention Facility in Minnesota, and the Midwest Regional Reception Center. The sales closed on July 2 and Aug. 4.

The report says the sales produced a gain of about $1.8 billion, and about $500 million went to taxes. CoreCivic’s net income, which is its profit after all costs and taxes, was $1.34 billion for the quarter. A year earlier, it was $26.3 million.

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Mayberry said its detained population is reaching record levels again, with populations at recently activated facilities growing quickly.

She reported 18,283 people detained in its facilities as of Sept. 30, up 8,100, or about 80%, since the start of 2025. Its average daily population rose by 3,302 in the third quarter, including 1,161 from five facilities activated since 2025.

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Mayberry said its detained population is reaching record levels again, with populations at recently activated facilities growing quickly.

She reported 18,283 people detained in its facilities as of Sept. 30, up 8,100, or about 80%, since the start of 2025. Its average daily population rose by 3,302 in the third quarter, including 1,161 from five facilities activated since 2025.

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An analyst at Northland Securities asked what ICE’s behavior would look like after the election. Mayberry said the environment is stable for the agency to operate and ramp up, that it continues to enter contracts, and that it is increasing enforcement.

Asked whether the election could affect talks about further sales, which the company has called preliminary, she said the discussions are preliminary but that CoreCivic would urge ICE to move quickly, and that it is as ready as it was before the election.

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Garfinkle said CoreCivic has seen no pushback on per diem rates from state or federal partners, and that 2026 was a good year for rate increases. The company’s updated full-year guidance excludes any additional facility sales to ICE.