Marketplace®
Every story is an economic story

Can for-profit prisons force detained immigrants to work?

A federal judge in Colorado has approved the first class-action lawsuit testing whether private prisons can force detained immigrants to work as “volunteers” for as little as $1 per day. The case centers on an ICE detention facility run by the GEO Group, one of the country’s largest private prison operators, and may turn on […]

A federal judge in Colorado has approved the first class-action lawsuit testing whether private prisons can force detained immigrants to work as “volunteers” for as little as $1 per day. The case centers on an ICE detention facility run by the GEO Group, one of the country’s largest private prison operators, and may turn on whether detainees are considered the same as inmates convicted of crimes.

Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Correction (March 7, 2017): A previous version of this story misstated the amount that detainees make. The text has been corrected.

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    3 hours ago
    25:22
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    10 hours ago
    7:09
  • Million Bazillion
    15 hours ago
    30:57
  • Marketplace Tech
    15 hours ago
    12:45
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    6 days ago
    28:44
  • Make Me Smart
    4 months ago
    24:33