Are ICE Detainees Forced to Work?

A review of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) webpage would lead one to think not, given the reference page found there on the “voluntary work program” within immigration service processing and contract detention facilities.

According to this page, opportunities for ICE detainees to work are considered a positive, morale booster that reduces idleness and the need for disciplinary action by staff. Specifically, the page says:

“Detainees shall be able to volunteer for work assignments but otherwise shall not be required to work, except to do personal housekeeping.”

Class action lawsuits being filed across the country by former detainees of these facilities paint entirely different pictures. These works of art are resplendent with the colors of tragedy and human unkindness.

According to an October 2017 article posted by The Nation, these lawsuits allege that ICE detainees are forced to work for ridiculously low wages or be threatened with physical and mental consequences.

The Nation article indicates that a recent class action lawsuit names a San Diego detention facility managed by CoreCivic—one of the country’s largest private government contractors. The case described a “voluntary” work program where ICE detainees were pressed into service in the laundry and food service areas and in the commissary.

They were purportedly paid $1 per full work day and then expected to clean their own quarters for free. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that the use of solitary confinement and physical restraint was used to punish non-compliant detainees.

Is Food Ever Withheld From ICE Detainees?

­On a separate reference page of the ICE website, the purpose and scope of detention facility food service is outlined. Among the many requirements regarding nutrition and food preparation safety put in writing, you will find the statement: “Food shall never be used for reward or punishment.”

Despite this requirement, an April 2018 CNN article asserted that a lawsuit against a Georgia ICE detention center described an environment where immigrants were denied necessities like food, basic toiletries, and personal care items to motivate them to work to be able to get these needs met through the commissary. The Georgia facility was also managed by CoreCivic.

What Laws Are Allegedly Being Broken by Facility Contract Management?

Assuming the accusations are correct which claim punitive environments where threats are plentiful and food is not, counsel for the plaintiffs involved in complaints purport that there are violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and local and national labor codes.

According to an article posted in September 2017 on the website Project on Government Oversight (POGO), the $1 a day wage actually has its basis in a 1950 law passed by Congress where detainee non-citizens have appropriated this wage for work in detention.

While an attempt to raise this rate was made in 1982 to $4, Congress failed to follow through on this action. The ‘at least $1 a day’ rate remains on the books. As indicated by the POGO article, the Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law questions the constitutionality of this low pay in the light of a coercive work environment.

Anita S. connects this situation with the 13 Amendment abolishing slavery. She says that involuntary labor was outlawed in this country except as a punishment for a criminal conviction. The director says that immigrant detainees pose a civil problem and the detention facilities do not house criminals.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

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