Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News News Federal Judge Rules Immigrant Detainees in Washington Must Be Paid

[HEADING=2]'https://time.com/6114940/minimum-wage-in-ice-detention/' (TIME)[/HEADING]
"For years, thousands of detainees awaiting their trials in immigration court were paid $1 a day to mop, scrub toilets, do laundry, and myriad other jobs at the Washington state facility where they were being held. During that time, GEO Group, the company contracted with the government to run the facility, 'https://time.com/5801847/washington-state-immigrant-detention-coronavirus/', was posting 'https://investors.geogroup.com/news-events-and-reports/investor-news/news-details/2021/The-GEO-Group-Reports-Third-Quarter-2021-Results/default.aspx''https://investors.geogroup.com/news-events-and-reports/investor-news/news-details/2021/The-GEO-Group-Reports-Third-Quarter-2021-Results/default.aspx'.

On Nov. 2, that balance of power shifted. In an extraordinary decision, a federal jury in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ordered GEO Group to provide $17.3 million in backpay to more than 10,000 former and current detainees, some of whom had performed the virtually-unpaid labor as far back as 2005."

Two things: First, I'm shocked not just that this has been going on for years, but that is going on at all; and this just demonstrates how little attention ICE gets. They are incredibly abusive of their authority, and this is yet another example. We should never outsource government responsibilities to for-profit actors. It's just ripe for abuse, as here.

Out-sourced prisons and ICE facilities sound an awful lot like kidnapping and illegal imprisonment to me. Not a fan. These are as bad as asset confiscation and qualified immunity. Police shouldn't have less scrutiny than ordinary citizens: They should have more! Any time you tell people they can get away with bad stuff, they will.