As I was reading this article about the Private prisons and how they are forcing the inmates to work for almost zero pay, I was somewhat shocked. Has America still not learned about the issues of slavery and how it is bad? These prisons that are privately run are basically using the fact that they are privately run to their advantage by getting more money per prisoner and forcing them to work for little money or none at all. They are forcibly making the prisoners work against their will in order to have cheap labor; how does that not sound like slavery to anyone? I cannot seem to understand how some of the people in the comments were saying that they were illegal immigrants so they deserve it. Those people are basically saying that they are lesser than them, so it does not matter. If you put those people in their shoes however, they would lash out at how mistreated they were because of their status. The fact in the matter of all of this is that slavery is illegal in the United States and therefore the privately run prisons do not have the right to make people work for them for free. Rayder004
I agree with you in regards to slavery, and I disagree with the idea of profit from prison. A system such as this begs for corruption. If prisons make money from prisoners then why wouldn't they bend the rules to keep them incarcerated in order to maximize profits. Furthermore, the idea of prison labor is extremely sensitive, while not a traditional sense of employment, it should still be treated as an employment and employees should be payed for their services and not face punishments if they do not wish to work. Ghost004
To me reading this article had a lot of gray areas, personally it is hard for me to call the shot that ICE and private prison organizations are engaging in what some might call neo-slavery. One party is saying that they are forced to engage in labor for no pay and the private prisons response to that is that they are volunteer work programs and the prisoners have choice on whether they engage in these programs or not. The only labor I see that the prisoners are required to do is keep their cells tidy which I believe is okay because it ensures the prisoners have a healthy living space and helps the guards ensure they are not hiding contraband in a messy cell. The next argument that was made and deemed incorrect was that the undocumented, illegal immigrants minimum wage rights were being violated because they were getting paid one dollar a day. I do agree one dollar a day is pretty bad judging by Russias 5 dollars a day (im not sure if that number was converted to us in the video or not) but Russia has some pretty tough jails and prisons. I don't think that people who are incarcerated deserve to be making full wage judged upon the fact that their basic living needs are already paid for. I thought it was ridiculous for the private prison party to say that the work programs were meant to penalize and rehabilitate the immigrants first of all in most cases like the article said they really didn't do anything worth needing rehabilitation (from personal experience most undocumented immigrants were already working and working hard), that is just a silly thing to say that they were "rehabilitating" them. Now as for the whole detaining undocumented immigrants or illegal immigrants goes its hard to say whats right or wrong because the article claims that it is cheaper to let them be free and have them do check ins but who knows hoe hard it will be to keep tabs on an undocumented immigrant. It is a shame that we are having to re open all of these profit oriented prisons but we also have to come to realize there is an illegal immigration issue in the US and we have to take care of it. There is a right and wrong way to do things and personally I believe immigrants coming into this country should be documented, I do not think that the cracking down on illegal immigrants justifies re opening these private prisons that we have worked on getting rid of. I think we should give a probation like program to keep these people in the community until their court hearings to cut down on costs and keep these toxic prisons out of circulation in the states. Bike001
This article did not come as a surprise to me at all. These private prisons are all about making money for the people running them. The fact that they are paying these immigrants a dollar a day just shows that many Americans are still okay with slavery. These immigrants are being detained in private prisons under the guise that they are checking to see if they are illegally in this country. But the reality is they are basically getting used for free labor and lining the pockets of the rich. I'm not sure how long it takes to check on the status of an immigrant but feel there are better ways to detain those immigrants who we are unsure of their status. With the election of Donald Trump who is gung-ho on deporting immigrants these private institutions are going to continue their unfair treatment of immigrants. Definitely feel this treatment of the immigrants is a form of modern day slavery. Anyone saying that inmates shouldn't be paid at least minimum wage need to realize these people are not inmates incarcerated for crimes and the article stated that most of these individuals are actually in the country legally. They are being mistreated simply because America is still a place that is full of prejudices. All about keeping the rich, rich, and the poor, poor. Regardless or not if the treatment of their fellow man is despicable or not. These immigrants can be placed on home confinement until their status is known not thrown into private prisons to be used for slavery. mommy004
I am not surprised that the private prison company has a lawsuit against them because they (the private prison) forced labor out of their inmates. Private prisons are mainly concerned with money. Them being money driven and having prisoners gives them the perfect opportunity to obtain more money. On the other hand, the Thirteenth Amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This amendment does not recognize that inmates have rights protecting them from involuntary work, but that does not mean that they should not get paid. Prisoners should get paid, but those private prison companies should not be in the wrong for paying them way below minimum wage. Prisoners do not deserve minimum wage; it is unfair for minimum wage workers outside of prison to be getting paid the same as convicts. The prisoners already get food and housing; many people on the outside struggle with paying for housing and food. Also, the Thirteenth Amendment protects only American citizens, so the laws are unclear when it comes to detained illegal immigrants. In my opinion, illegal immigrants should have the same rights as American prisoners because every criminal in the same facility should be equally treated. Scuba004
I think this article was an interesting read. I do not agree thought that having these detainees work amounts to "slavery." They work through ICE's VOLUNTARY work program, which means that they are not forced into cleaning the facilities they are housed in unless they choose to, and while their working for $1 a day may not be an ethically or morally correct thing to do, Blagojevich is working in the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Colorado for 12 cents an hour, which amounts to only 96 cents for his 8 hour work day, and he is an American citizen, while the people being detained in these ICE facilities are not, and may not even be in this country legally. I do, however believe that the prison industrial complex and private prisons are a real problem in this country and there needs to be more oversight in them, or they need to be eliminated completely. EKT004
A private prison in Aurora, Colo owned and operated by GEO group under a contract with ICE is receiving some very unwanted attention recently with a new lawsuit filled against them. The lawsuit, filled in 2014, reached class-action status this week. The lawsuit began with the issue of nine immigrants reportedly being threatened with solitary confinement if they did not work for a $1 a day or even without pay. The plaintiffs are arguing for forced labor or a form of slavery. This lawsuit is hitting the main stream right on the verge of a reformation of our correctional institutions thanks to the Trump administration. Since Trump has taken office many of the anti-private prison polices enacted by Obama have been reversed in light of this new so called war on immigration. It is imperative that this lawsuit and others like it get the attention they need and the justice for that matter. In the near future we can expect to see the use of public prisons increase, and it will be that much more important to regulate and supervise these private companies who make a profit on incarceration. A system in which a company can make a profit on the number and length of sentences is a very dangerous route for our country. If this model of corrections must continue, it must be monitored with extreme prejudice. Ghost004
As I was reading this article about the Private prisons and how they are forcing the inmates to work for almost zero pay, I was somewhat shocked. Has America still not learned about the issues of slavery and how it is bad? These prisons that are privately run are basically using the fact that they are privately run to their advantage by getting more money per prisoner and forcing them to work for little money or none at all. They are forcibly making the prisoners work against their will in order to have cheap labor; how does that not sound like slavery to anyone? I cannot seem to understand how some of the people in the comments were saying that they were illegal immigrants so they deserve it. Those people are basically saying that they are lesser than them, so it does not matter. If you put those people in their shoes however, they would lash out at how mistreated they were because of their status. The fact in the matter of all of this is that slavery is illegal in the United States and therefore the privately run prisons do not have the right to make people work for them for free. Rayder004
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in regards to slavery, and I disagree with the idea of profit from prison. A system such as this begs for corruption. If prisons make money from prisoners then why wouldn't they bend the rules to keep them incarcerated in order to maximize profits. Furthermore, the idea of prison labor is extremely sensitive, while not a traditional sense of employment, it should still be treated as an employment and employees should be payed for their services and not face punishments if they do not wish to work. Ghost004
DeleteTo me reading this article had a lot of gray areas, personally it is hard for me to call the shot that ICE and private prison organizations are engaging in what some might call neo-slavery. One party is saying that they are forced to engage in labor for no pay and the private prisons response to that is that they are volunteer work programs and the prisoners have choice on whether they engage in these programs or not. The only labor I see that the prisoners are required to do is keep their cells tidy which I believe is okay because it ensures the prisoners have a healthy living space and helps the guards ensure they are not hiding contraband in a messy cell. The next argument that was made and deemed incorrect was that the undocumented, illegal immigrants minimum wage rights were being violated because they were getting paid one dollar a day. I do agree one dollar a day is pretty bad judging by Russias 5 dollars a day (im not sure if that number was converted to us in the video or not) but Russia has some pretty tough jails and prisons. I don't think that people who are incarcerated deserve to be making full wage judged upon the fact that their basic living needs are already paid for. I thought it was ridiculous for the private prison party to say that the work programs were meant to penalize and rehabilitate the immigrants first of all in most cases like the article said they really didn't do anything worth needing rehabilitation (from personal experience most undocumented immigrants were already working and working hard), that is just a silly thing to say that they were "rehabilitating" them. Now as for the whole detaining undocumented immigrants or illegal immigrants goes its hard to say whats right or wrong because the article claims that it is cheaper to let them be free and have them do check ins but who knows hoe hard it will be to keep tabs on an undocumented immigrant. It is a shame that we are having to re open all of these profit oriented prisons but we also have to come to realize there is an illegal immigration issue in the US and we have to take care of it. There is a right and wrong way to do things and personally I believe immigrants coming into this country should be documented, I do not think that the cracking down on illegal immigrants justifies re opening these private prisons that we have worked on getting rid of. I think we should give a probation like program to keep these people in the community until their court hearings to cut down on costs and keep these toxic prisons out of circulation in the states. Bike001
ReplyDelete* Bike004
DeleteThis article did not come as a surprise to me at all. These private prisons are all about making money for the people running them. The fact that they are paying these immigrants a dollar a day just shows that many Americans are still okay with slavery. These immigrants are being detained in private prisons under the guise that they are checking to see if they are illegally in this country. But the reality is they are basically getting used for free labor and lining the pockets of the rich. I'm not sure how long it takes to check on the status of an immigrant but feel there are better ways to detain those immigrants who we are unsure of their status. With the election of Donald Trump who is gung-ho on deporting immigrants these private institutions are going to continue their unfair treatment of immigrants. Definitely feel this treatment of the immigrants is a form of modern day slavery. Anyone saying that inmates shouldn't be paid at least minimum wage need to realize these people are not inmates incarcerated for crimes and the article stated that most of these individuals are actually in the country legally. They are being mistreated simply because America is still a place that is full of prejudices. All about keeping the rich, rich, and the poor, poor. Regardless or not if the treatment of their fellow man is despicable or not. These immigrants can be placed on home confinement until their status is known not thrown into private prisons to be used for slavery. mommy004
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised that the private prison company has a lawsuit against them because they (the private prison) forced labor out of their inmates. Private prisons are mainly concerned with money. Them being money driven and having prisoners gives them the perfect opportunity to obtain more money. On the other hand, the Thirteenth Amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This amendment does not recognize that inmates have rights protecting them from involuntary work, but that does not mean that they should not get paid. Prisoners should get paid, but those private prison companies should not be in the wrong for paying them way below minimum wage. Prisoners do not deserve minimum wage; it is unfair for minimum wage workers outside of prison to be getting paid the same as convicts. The prisoners already get food and housing; many people on the outside struggle with paying for housing and food. Also, the Thirteenth Amendment protects only American citizens, so the laws are unclear when it comes to detained illegal immigrants. In my opinion, illegal immigrants should have the same rights as American prisoners because every criminal in the same facility should be equally treated. Scuba004
ReplyDeleteI think this article was an interesting read. I do not agree thought that having these detainees work amounts to "slavery." They work through ICE's VOLUNTARY work program, which means that they are not forced into cleaning the facilities they are housed in unless they choose to, and while their working for $1 a day may not be an ethically or morally correct thing to do, Blagojevich is working in the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Colorado for 12 cents an hour, which amounts to only 96 cents for his 8 hour work day, and he is an American citizen, while the people being detained in these ICE facilities are not, and may not even be in this country legally. I do, however believe that the prison industrial complex and private prisons are a real problem in this country and there needs to be more oversight in them, or they need to be eliminated completely. EKT004
ReplyDeleteA private prison in Aurora, Colo owned and operated by GEO group under a contract with ICE is receiving some very unwanted attention recently with a new lawsuit filled against them. The lawsuit, filled in 2014, reached class-action status this week. The lawsuit began with the issue of nine immigrants reportedly being threatened with solitary confinement if they did not work for a $1 a day or even without pay. The plaintiffs are arguing for forced labor or a form of slavery. This lawsuit is hitting the main stream right on the verge of a reformation of our correctional institutions thanks to the Trump administration. Since Trump has taken office many of the anti-private prison polices enacted by Obama have been reversed in light of this new so called war on immigration. It is imperative that this lawsuit and others like it get the attention they need and the justice for that matter. In the near future we can expect to see the use of public prisons increase, and it will be that much more important to regulate and supervise these private companies who make a profit on incarceration. A system in which a company can make a profit on the number and length of sentences is a very dangerous route for our country. If this model of corrections must continue, it must be monitored with extreme prejudice. Ghost004
ReplyDelete