Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

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
    5 hours ago
    25:19
  • Make Me Smart
    11 hours ago
    19:00
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    13 hours ago
    6:55
  • Marketplace Tech
    18 hours ago
    8:33
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    3 days ago
    56:05
  • Million Bazillion
    24 days ago
    32:45