Why a Colorado mental health provider turned down an ICE contract
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There's been a big win in the Senate for cryptocurrency businesses.

I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. The Senate has passed a bill setting up a framework of regulations for what are called stablecoins. If something like this passes the House, it'll be a big win for the crypto folks. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzer has details. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that's pegged to the U.S. dollar. Stablecoin backers say they could be used to send payments instantly and directly, cutting out middlemen.

The Senate bill is called the Genius Act. It includes rules for private companies that want to issue digital dollars. The bill passed with some support from Democrats. Most Democrats were opposed, though, pointing out the legislation doesn't include anti-corruption measures or anything prohibiting President Trump and his family from making money from crypto. The House is considering its own crypto legislation and could make changes to the Senate bill. I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer for Marketplace.

Now, middle of last week, the Trump administration was hardline on immigration raids, including farms and hotels. Late last week, after online posts from President Trump honoring the contributions of immigrant workers, an apparent reprieve for those industries. But coming out of the weekend, back to the hardline. Lobby groups for farms and businesses that employ people from other countries are expressing concern.

Today we continue our coverage. We look at contractors providing legally required services for people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These include medical care, where providers are trying to navigate the administration's assertions that detainees do not have rights to normal due process. Aspen Public Radio's Hallie Zander reports on a mental health facility in Colorado that decided not to take this business. When

When MindSprings, the biggest mental health provider in western Colorado, considered contracting with ICE in January, some in the Grand Junction community were alarmed. Former CEO Dr. Nicholas D. Torres said calls poured in. There were some of our vendors that were telling us they were not going to work with us. There were some places that said they weren't going to renew visas with us.

ICE doesn't have a lot of infrastructure in western Colorado, and Mind Springs was typically filling only 30 of its 48 beds at its inpatient facility. The ICE contract would have filled the extra beds with immigrant detainees. Some immigrant advocates worried that if private companies like Mind Springs provide food, shelter, and medical care, it could make it easier for ICE to detain and deport people.

That's their opinion. Again, Dr. Torres. We have no say in the actual detention process. We're strictly providing those acute mental health services. Across the country, private contracts with ICE are pretty common. A private prison based in Florida offers facilities. A tech company from Colorado provides data analytics software. And an air travel company out of New Mexico charters planes for deportation flights.

But if there's no contractor available for the price ICE wants to pay. They have to offer a higher price. That's Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, an immigration law professor at Ohio State University. He says even though Trump's administration is working to increase funding for ICE, there's always a breaking point.

The more it costs to detain one person, the sooner that the federal government will get to the end of the line. But John Fabricatore, a former ICE field office director, says that's not true when it comes to mandatory detention, even as costs rise. He says ICE will always arrest and detain people involved in serious crimes. And the community members who didn't want MindSprings to contract with ICE were missing the point.

What they actually protested against was providing care that is needed for people that are in a detained setting. And this deprived the local economy of some serious cash. Somewhere else in the United States is going to provide that service, and those people are going to be moved to that location. But it won't be Grand Junction. MindSpring shut down its hospital in March. In Aspen, Colorado, I'm Hallie Zander for Marketplace.

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The spawn of the horror film 28 Days Later is out in theaters this week, 28 years later, directed by Danny Boyle. In the last decade, horror movies have gone from 4% to 11% of U.S. box office. Marketplace's Stephanie Hughes looks at this flight to fright. Jordan Homan likes the existential questions that movies like 28 Years Later bring up. What if something world-ending happened and you're in this zombie apocalypse?

There are many kinds of death. Some are better than others. How would people really act? Homan works in project development for Phoenix Theaters, which has nine locations across five states. All of them will be showing 28 years later. He's expecting people to show up because they want to be scared, but not by themselves. There's an electricity that's created in that environment.

Paul DeGirabedian is an analyst with Comscore. He says one thing that's boosted horror in the past decade is there have been a number of scary movies that are also critical darlings. He points to the 2017 movie Get Out and more recently, Sinners. A lot of people for whom going to a horror movie, not really their cup of tea, came out for those films after reading reviews. Also,

Also, he says, while people can spend a lot of money making horror films, they don't have to. That's different from, say, a superhero movie. But a great horror movie, you could have one person in a room and scare people to death. And he says horror movies do well internationally. Running from zombies has universal appeal. I'm Stephanie Hughes for Marketplace. And in Los Angeles, I'm David Brancaccio. It's the Marketplace Morning Report from APM American Public Media.

Personal finance isn't just about spreadsheets and investing. It's emotional. Talking to your partner about money, negotiating a raise. Even the smallest decisions, like splitting a bill, can bring up feelings of shame or anxiety. I'm Rima Reis, host of This is Uncomfortable, a podcast from Marketplace about life and how money messes with it.

In this season, we get into topics like workplace drama, tough financial trade-offs, and the quiet tension that builds when love and finances collide. Listen to This is Uncomfortable wherever you get your podcasts.