WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released the following statement Thursday after Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed an Obama administration directive to phase out the use of private prisons:

“This is how our corrupt political and campaign finance system works. Private prison companies invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and today they got their reward: the Trump administration reversed the Obama administration’s directive to reduce the Justice Department’s use of private prisons. At a time when we already have more people behind bars than any other country, Trump just opened the floodgates for private prisons to make huge profits by building more prisons and keeping even more Americans in jail. Our job: invest in education and jobs, not jails and incarceration. Further, we must end private prisons in America. Corporations should not be profiting by incarcerating our fellow Americans.”