CoreCivic and other for-profit prison and detention centers amounted to a nearly $1 billion industry in 2018. For-profit detention centers contracted by the United States government to hold immigrant detainees for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are funded by taxpayer money. In addition to costing U.S. taxpayers approximately $800 million a year to operate, some detainees are claiming that these centers are violating human rights and labor laws in an attempt to make an even higher profit.

If you are a current or former employee of a CoreCivic immigration detention center, including the CoreCivic ICE Laredo center, you may have valuable information regarding immigrant treatment and labor practices. Employees, volunteers and visitors who have witnessed forced labor or human rights violations may be able to help affected detainees by participating in this free investigation.

CoreCivic Detention Center Allegations

Contracts between the federal government and detention centers are not publicly available, so it is unknown how much these centers are costing the public, how much they are being paid, or how long their contracts are set to last. However, it is known that while billions of taxpayer dollars are being obligated to for-profit prison companies, the detainees at these centers are paid as little as $0.50 a day to work.

One woman detained at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in southeast Texas told the Daily Beast that she’s paid $3 a day to work an overnight shift cooking, serving food, and cleaning the kitchen and cafeteria facilities. According to her, “It’s inhumane. It’s like a torture chamber.”

CoreCivic has been cited for violations as well as named a defendant in multiple civil rights lawsuits, according to the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune. Former detainees have alleged that CoreCivic may be forcing immigrants to work various jobs at its centers for $1 a day or less.

Reports from detainees allege that instead of hiring workers to perform basic duties around their detention centers, CoreCivic is forcing immigrant detainees to join purportedly voluntary work programs in an attempt to cut costs. Detainees may be being forced to cook and prepare meals, clean the facilities, do laundry, and perform basic administrative duties.

While these work programs are supposed to be voluntary, some inmates and detainees have alleged that they were forced to perform labor under threat of punishment, solitary isolation, or the withholding of basic supplies.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been critical of for-profit prisons and detention centers like CoreCivic, stating “the American economy should not include locking people in cages for profit.”

About CoreCivic Detention Centers

CoreCivic is one of the largest for-profit prison operators in the United States. The company also runs immigrant detention centers and houses detained immigrants for ICE and the U.S. government.

Texas CoreCivic detention centers that are suspected of possible forced labor and worker violations include:

• CoreCivic Houston Processing Center in Houston
• CoreCivic ICE Laredo Center in Laredo
• CoreCivic South Texas Residential Facility in Dilley
• CoreCivic T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor
• CoreCivic Webb County Detention Center in Laredo

If you or a loved one has been subjected to worker or human rights violations, or have been witness to these violations at a CoreCivic detention center, like CoreCivic ICE Laredo Center, you may be able to take legal action against the corporation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.