Kenyan Immigrant in the US Files Lawsuit over Forced Labor While in Immigration Detention
A Kenyan immigrant is among two ex-prisoners at a California private immigration prison who have filed an action lawsuit against the facility, claiming they were forced to work while at the prison for as little as $1 a day.
In a lawsuit filed on May 31, Sylvester Owino (Kenyan) and Jonathan Gomez alleged that CoreCivic, which is one the largest private prison in the US, forced them to perform tasks such as cleaning bathrooms and medical facilities in the prison.
“In some instances, CoreCivic pays detainees $1 per day, and in other instances, detainees are not compensated with wages at all for their labor and services,” the lawsuit reads in part.
“What you have is a civil immigration detention system, being managed by for-profit companies, based on a criminal detention model with detainees being coerced and forced to work under threat of punishment, or in some instances for as little as $1 per day,” Robert Teel, the lawyer who filed to claim on behalf of the plaintiffs, told Vocativ.
“You can imagine what an unfair competitive advantage it is for a company to pay its employees $1 per day instead of minimum wage.” He added.
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