Across the United States, over 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers operate largely out of the public eye, holding individuals awaiting trial and subjecting them to allegedly illegal forced labor. While, in our current political climate, undocumented immigration is a polarizing topic, forced labor should never be. Despite this, in detention centers across the nation, abusive conditions continue to perpetuate modern forms of slavery.
The United States (US) has long proclaimed itself a lodestar of civil liberty, but inside ICE facilities migrants are forcefully compelled to work—under threat of being denied food, sent to solitary confinement, or the use of physical restraint. Such abuses do not just contradict proclaimed American values; they violate basic human rights.
What the law says and why it matters
The 13th Amendment of the United States constitution eradicated slavery and involuntary servitude in 1865—with one important exception. Forced labor is allowed as “punishment for crime” with due conviction, meaning that slavery can continue lawfully in states across the nation [1]. The nature of the coercion is incredibly abusive, with the threatened denial of parole, loss of visitation rights, and solitary confinement. This type of labor largely benefits for-profit prisons and private corporations [2].
What sets labor in detention facilities apart is that detainees have not been convicted of any crime. So, how is forced labor justified in detention centers? Under the guise of “voluntary work programs” [3] across the nation. However, as advocates have exposed, immigrant detainees are compelled by private corporations “GEO” and “CoreCivic” to perform facility management labor often under the threat of solitary confinement, and the deprivation of food or material necessities—for $1 or less each day[4]. How can coercing individuals to work in potentially dangerous conditions be qualified as voluntary?
Evidence strongly suggests that detention center labor is involuntary by nature. Accounts from detainees frequently paint a cruel and unjust picture. One such account stems from Eduardo Zuniga, a kitchen worker at a CoreCivic detention center in Georgia. Zuniga reportedly suffered multiple on-the-job injuries, tearing a ligament in his knee and shattering a toenail to the point of infection. However, he was reportedly “threatened by CoreCivic guards” that he would be sent to “the hole (solitary confinement)” if he failed to report for work the following days. For this reason, he did not receive necessary medical intervention until well after his initial injury–largely out of fear for his safety and well-being.
Who is profiting and how
ICE pays out over 1.2 billion dollars to GEO and CoreCivic each year alone, despite both companies being increasingly reliant on detainee labor[5]. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health named GEO in their 2025 “Dirty Dozen List,” referencing GEO’s coercive methods and serious safety failures for immigrant detainees awaiting trial.
For this dangerous work, immigrant detainees receive incredibly minimal pay[6]. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), which the US joined in 1934, one of the most important indicators of consensual labor is if conditions resemble “free labor relationships”—including comparable pay to free workers. However, the minimal pay for this work is justified under a single line provision dating back to 1950. The provision stated that while immigrant detainees awaited trial, “payment allowances” would be given for work performed—with rates adjusted from “time to time” in line with inflation. In 1950, the provision passed with a rate of one dollar per eight-hour workday. With the US minimum wage in 1950 being $6 for 8 hours of work, detainees awaiting trial were paid 1/6th of a free worker’s minimum wage.
Shockingly, in 2025 the rate remains one dollar per eight-hour workday, with the rate having never been adjusted to reflect inflation. Today, the US minimum wage sits at $60 for eight hours of work—meaning detainees receive 1/60th of a free laborer’s minimum wage. This concerningly low pay is far lower than the federal regulation for free labor, an indicator of forced prison labor according to the ILO.
Today’s rapid growth in detention
Today, the scope of this coercive system is expanding rapidly. ICE is detaining more people than ever before, with the number of individuals in custody over 30% higher than it was in late 2024 (TRAC). Meanwhile, ICE is aggressively expanding detention capacity—building new detention facilities and increasing the scope of forced labor rapidly. As the detention network widens, so too does the reach of a labor regime that thrives on vulnerability, silence, and invisibility.
Freedom United began campaigning to end prison slavery in 2017. Back then, aside from the Human Trafficking Legal Center, most other anti-trafficking organizations were reluctant to take a stand. Over the years we have engaged in dialogue with Core Civic, supported college-based student action groups in their campaign to divest from prison slavery, and supported the criminal justice reform movement to spread the message about the how the system is built on exploitation and profit. Use your voice to join the call.
Sources:
[1] American Civil Liberties Union. “Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers.” ACLU, 15 June 2022, https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/captive-labor-exploitation-of-incarcerated-workers
[2] Braun, Yvonne A., and Kaelyn Polick-Kirkpatrick. “Mass Incarceration and the Problem of Prison Labor.” Beyond Bars: A Path Forward from 50 Years of Mass Incarceration in the United States, edited by Kristen M. Budd et al., 1st ed., Bristol University Press, 2023, pp. 23–32. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.5590542.9
[3] Southern Poverty Law Center. “Settlement Reached in Forced-Labor Case Against Private Prison Company Operating Immigration Detention Centers.” SPLC, https://www. splcenter.org/presscenter/settlement-forced-labor-case-against-private-prison-company-operating-immigration
[4] Davis Vanguard. “Detained Immigrants Face Forced Labor at GEO Group Detention Centers.” Davis Vanguard, 30 Apr. 2025, https://davisvanguard.org/2025/04/forced-labor-detained-immigrants/
[5] Project on Government Oversight. “Slave Labor Widespread at ICE Detention Centers, Lawyers Say.” POGO, 7 Sept. 2017, https://www.pogo.org/investigations/slave-labor-widespread-at-ice-detention-centers-lawyers-say
[6] Gooding, Dan. “ICE Warden Put Transgender Detainees into Forced Labor Program: Complaint.” Newsweek, 27 Sept. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/ice-detention-louisiana-transgender-detainees-abuse-complaint-10483607
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