The same companies that house prisoners are also paid by the government to house immigrants, creating a problem that sits at the intersection of race and capitalism. The logic behind this is simple. Private companies exist to make money. When you operate a prison, the best way to make money is to make sure that the prison is full.
The failure engendered in poverty is a collective one. It represents our willingness to accept a world where “the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many”—a world where those living east of the Anacostia are condemned to destitution and misery.