Lack of immigrants leads to modern-day slavery

Wed07Mar2007

Lack of immigrants leads to modern-day slavery

18:12 H | Topics: Colorado - Immigration - Labor

Who needs immigrants? Farms do, but that didn't stop Colorado from imposing some of the strictest immigration laws on the book, and now that state is seeing the effects that has on its agriculture. There simply is no one to do the work, so now they've decided to resort to using prisoners in a dynamic that resembles slavery:

Ever since passing what its Legislature promoted as the nation's toughest laws against illegal immigration last summer, Colorado has struggled with a labor shortage as migrants fled the state. This week, officials announced a novel solution: Use convicts as farmworkers.

The Department of Corrections hopes to launch a pilot program this month — thought to be the first of its kind — that would contract with more than a dozen farms to provide inmates who will pick melons, onions and peppers.

Crops were left to spoil in the fields after the passage of legislation that required state identification to get government services and allowed police to check suspects' immigration status.

So who's pocketing the money that the farms would have paid undocumented immigrants? Well, the prisons of course.

The inmates will be watched by prison guards, who will be paid by the farms. The cost is subject to negotiation, but farmers say they expect to pay more for the inmate labor and its associated costs than for their traditional workers.

The LA Times reports that prisoners deemed a "low security risk" will earn up to 60 cents a day.

According to The LA Times, the harsh immigration laws have driven many immigrants out of Colorado, and not just the undocumented.

"Some of them have said, 'We think our paperwork is in order, but how about if it's not and we get caught on a glitch,' " he said.

Ever since the Democratic-controlled Legislature took a tough turn on immigration, the new requirements have worried those in the country legally and illegally.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read lately. Even for those who oppose immigration, it's stupid for the economy of the state. And not that many in this country care about the rights of prisoners, but it's interesting to me that to solve what they consider a "social ill" -- "illegal" immigration -- the state of Colorado thinks bringing back the biggest social ill of our time is a great idea.

Related reading: Louisiana Jails: Prisons or Plantations (AOL Black Voices)

Via / LA Times

Images via AFSC.org and BlackVoices

Katie Couric Tries to Boost Sagging Ratings on the Backs of Immigrant Women (Tuesday, Apr 08 2008)
In the Voice of Immigrant Women : They Wanted to Take Away My Baby (Tuesday, Mar 25 2008)

Jennifer

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1. RIcardo ~ Wednesday, Mar 07 2007 | 23:25H:

Whats wrong with prisoners doing hard labor? No hagas el crimen si no puedes hacer el tiempo!

If someone told me the guy who robbed our apartment in brooklyn when I was kid, while my grandma was home, was working on a farm for 60 cents an hour I wouldn't bat an eyelash.

2. Jennifer Woodard Maderazo ~ Thursday, Mar 08 2007 | 11:27H:

What's "wrong" is that in prisons, institutions where human rights aren't generally respected and people's lives are given up for lost, the lines between work and slavery are easily blurred. Like many punishments that our justice system imposes on people accused of crimes, it's not necessarily the nature of the sentence but the fact that I seriously question how the punishments are carried out, with little transparency and the opportunity for human rights to be violated very present.

On the other hand, making prisons a money-making machine just incentivizes keeping people in jail, or incarcerating more people to keep the machine running smoothly.

3. Maegan la Mala ~ Thursday, Mar 08 2007 | 12:19H:

Not only does the prison industrial complex contribute to business and prisons shifting from a rehabilitation model but it also increases the level of criminalization, mostly in people of color communities, to make sure that prison labor is always available

4. RIcardo ~ Friday, Mar 09 2007 | 09:45H:

First of all you are making a huge stretch in logic by implying "institutions where human rights aren't generally respected" to associating prison work with "slavery". You also leap to the conclusion that having prisoners "work" will make the courts keep them there longer. I wont deny there are problems with the prison system but at the same time most of the people there didn't get there by being fine upstanding individuals, most of who you wouldn't want living in your building. Giving prisoners jobs also has positive qualities like giving them skills and giving them something to do other than sit around and go stir crazy..aka rehabilitation.

5. Maegan la Mala ~ Friday, Mar 09 2007 | 10:16H:

So do you deny the fact that prisons are big businesses?

6. RIcardo ~ Friday, Mar 09 2007 | 13:37H:

Hell no, this is America everything is a business.

7. Gloria ~ Saturday, Mar 17 2007 | 21:30H:

Ricardo,

It's time to take off the blinders. Please visit http://www.ccjrc.org/pdf/Consolidated_2006_Fact_Sheets.pdf and find out who exactly is going to jail and who isn't. Please pay special attention to the section that talks about the percentage of drug users and the percentage of people jailed per race.

And notice also that, in Colorado, 1 in every 4 prisons is privately owned.

Then go and watch some Army commercials, and see who it is the Army wants to send to the front lines: "Salazar. There is strong. Then there is Army Strong." What they really mean to say is: There's expendable. Then there is Army expendable. And btw, there are plenty of studies that corroborate what Maegan la mala is saying. Just type "Modern slavery in the U.S.", and keep on reading.

8. Lee ~ Monday, Apr 09 2007 | 14:05H:

" The Department of Corrections hopes to launch a pilot program this month — thought to be the first of its kind .. Use convicts as farmworkers."

Say what?! When I was a child I frequently saw convicts working on roads, digging ditches, working in fields ... duh! ... This is nothing new! They were under guard and after work they were taken back to jail. That was 50 years ago! They should be very careful who they let out to work but I see nothing wrong with it. It might actually do the prisoners some good.

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