Immigrant Labor Illegal (Unless They Are Prisoners)
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| Parchman Farm Prison Labor, 1911 |
It should be obvious that increasing raids and deportations of immigrants is great for business as it reduces the chances that immigrant laborers will organize or fight for their workplace rights out of fear they will be deported. Deportations increased 400% from 1996 and 2011, while the Department of Homeland Security has increased its daily detention capacity to34,000 beds, according to a recent piece in Truthout, much of it run by private, for-profit prison companies.
There is another less obvious way to profit from the crackdown on immigrants: force them to work while in detention, either for free or for a pittance. The 13th amendment to the constitution abolished chattel slavery, but it did not block prisons (private or public) from compelling prisoners to work for little or no pay. Prisoners at private immigration detention centers are