Immigration violations are considered civil, not criminal cases, so ICE detainment is not supposed to be punitive. Until private prisons took over the majority of immigration detention contracts, ICE detainment was never supposed to be profitable, either. But with over 65 percent of all ICE detainees now housed in private prisons across the country, ICE detainees are now at the mercy of companies who answer to shareholders, and oftentimes cut corners to increase profit margins. Serious violations have been uncovered not just by advocacy groups, but by Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.
Overall, we identified problems that undermine the protection of detainees’ rights, their humane treatment, and the provision of a safe and healthy environment.
One such facility features prominently in the OIG report, and is now facing a class-action lawsuit, according to the Daily Beast. Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center, owned and operated by CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), stands accused of violating federal anti-human trafficking laws through its “voluntary” work program.
The detention center characterizes its work program as voluntary. But according to the lawsuit detainees are paid pennies per hour—generally $1 to $4 per day—for tasks such as mopping floors, scrubbing toilets, and serving meals. Immigrants who resist participating in the work program can face criminal charges or up to 30 days in solitary confinement, the suit says. They also are subjected to worse living quarters.
In addition to three hots and a cot, detainees are guaranteed basic necessities at zero cost. However, the OIG found that was not the case at Stewart.
Multiple detainees at the [...] Stewart Detention Center also complained that some of the basic hygienic supplies, such as toilet paper, shampoo, soap, lotion, and toothpaste, were not provided promptly or at all when detainees ran out of them.
According to one detainee, when they used up their initial supply of certain personal care items, such as toothpaste, they were advised to purchase more at the facility commissary, contrary to the Performance-Based National Detention Standards, which specify that personal hygiene items should be replenished as needed.
The OIG report glosses over how egregiously overpriced prison commissaries can be, and who benefits from that markup, but as the Southern Poverty Law Center explains:
The “Dollar-a-Day” program creates a lucrative profit scenario for CoreCivic: Detained immigrants are forced to purchase basic necessities from CoreCivic’s commissary, and the primary way to fund their purchases is to participate in the work program that is necessary for the operation of the facility. These jobs include providing basic functions at the facility like cooking and cleaning, work for which CoreCivic would otherwise have to hire and pay outside employees.
Denial of basic needs is allegedly served up with a dash of vitriol and humiliation as well, according to one of the plaintiffs, who has been held at Stewart for almost three years.
“In one instance, (Plaintiff Wilhen Hill) Barrientos ran out of toilet paper and requested another roll from a CoreCivic officer,” the lawsuit says. “The CoreCivic officer told Mr. Barrientos to use his fingers to clean himself.”
Despite being a product of the current administration, the OIG report delivers damning assessments about Stewart that include the “delay and interruption of Muslim prayer times,” unjust segregation of inmates, moldy bathrooms, and showers that only offer scalding hot water. As such, the report features prominently in the Georgia lawsuit.
CoreCivic, America’s largest private prison operator, isn’t the only company facing a lawsuit for these human rights violations. In February 2017, GEO Group, the second-largest private prison operator, found itself the subject of a similar class-action lawsuit, the first of its kind.
… a federal judge ruled that current and former detainees held at an immigrant detention center in Colorado can join a class-action lawsuit against GEO Group, a private prison company. The plaintiffs allege that the GEO Group forced detainees to work for extremely low wages or for no wages at all, and in some cases threatened detainees with solitary confinement as punishment if they refused to work.
“This is the first time that a private prison company has ever been accused of forced labor, and this is the first time that a judge has ever found that the claims can go forward under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the bans in federal law on forced labor,” said Andrew Free, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys.“
The Colorado suit made headlines and set precedent, with similar lawsuits soon following in states like California and Washington.
Some members of the GOP didn’t hesitate to chime in with a ridiculous hot takes on the subject. Eighteen Republican congressmen even weighed in last month to tell Jeff Sessions that they think forced labor is A-OK:
(The letter) argues that immigrants should not be able to sue prison companies because they aren’t employees there, and that paying them $1 per day for their work is lawful. The letter also said that forced labor saves the government money and improves detainees’ morale.
Congressmen wrote that the work program’s purpose is to “(1) enhance detention operations and services through detainee productivity; and to (2) reduce the negative impact of confinement through decreased idleness, improved morale, and fewer disciplinary incidents.”
“Unless your agencies act to intervene in these lawsuits, immigration enforcement efforts will be thwarted,” the letter reads.
Predictably, a full third of the letter’s signatories were recipients of campaign donations from GEO Group. A pro-Trump super PAC received nearly a quarter million from the company in 2016, and donated another quarter million to Trump’s inauguration.
Under Trump, it’s clear that immigration detention is, in fact, meant to be punitive AND profitable.
