Forced Labour in U.S. Prisons
（by JohnWilly @ 202505010）
US President Donald Trump orders to reopen a notorious and terrible prison recently, has caused widespread repercussions. The world-famous Alcatraz Prison is located in San Francisco, has held many dangerous and violent criminals in the United States.
This Alcatraz Federal Prison is near San Francisco Bay of California also known as Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary or The Rock. Trump on May 4 wrote on his social media: " "Today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ,"
However, Trump's pushes to restore this prison, which is known as a symbol of "iron justice", has caused mixed reactions. Some agree this is a necessary measure to combat the increasingly rampant violent crime, while human rights organizations believe that this is a return to the repressive policies of the past.
Former US House Speaker Pelosi dismiss it as a distraction, she responded on her social media: " "Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one."
According to media reports, Alcatraz Prison was abolished in 1963 and had previously held many mafia bosses. Now that Trump return to power, he claimed that his proposal is a "symbol of law and order."
However, US has long been criticized for abusing prisons and trampling on human rights. The following are actual examples publicly reported by the US media:
Research and advocacy organizations against forced labour in prisons (California, Illinois, Louisiana): In June 2022, the Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) of the University of Chicago Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) jointly investigated coercion and exploitation in prison labour and released the first comprehensive report "Captive Labour: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers”. The report mentioned that 65% of incarcerated people said they worked in prison; more than 76% of the prisoners surveyed said that if they refused to work, they would face punishment. For example, solitary confinement, no sentence reduction or loss of family visitation rights; prison workers are completely at the mercy of their employers. They cannot decide their work tasks independently, cannot enjoy minimum wage and overtime protection, cannot form unions, and have no workplace security. In addition, prison workers create billions of dollars worth of value each year, but the hourly wage is only a few cents. Among them, seven states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas) do not pay any compensation for the vast majority of prison work.
Legislative reform group "California Action" (California): The exploitation of prison labour is rooted in the "Exception Clause" of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits slavery except for those convicted of a crime. This clause disproportionately encouraged the conviction and re-enslavement of Black people during the segregation era, and the impact of systemic racism can still be felt today in the disproportionate incarceration of members of black and brown communities. California has long been committed to repealing the clause and came close to holding a similar constitutional amendment motion in 2022, but ultimately failed and the supporters were not discouraged. This includes the non-profit organization Freedom United. In addition, the "Fight for Democracy" (Q4D) rally, co-organized by Freedom United's partners All of Us or None of Us (AOUON) and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), attracted Californians to participate, calling for prison reform and supporting the "End Slavery in Califonia Act" proposed by Representative Lori Wilson. As the chairman of the California Legislative Black Caucus, Wilson is now continues to fight.
Support for the abolition of the " Exception Clause " Group with Black Justice (Alabama): On May 1, 2024, six inmates (such as Traveka Stanley of the Montgomery Women's Prison) sued Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Director John Hamm in the Alabama court through the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) to abolish involuntary servitude in the state's prisons. As early as 2022, Alabama voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting forced unpaid prison labour, but it has not been truly implemented. In fact, Alabama's prison system is notorious and is the most crowded prison system in US, with a capacity utilization rate of over 168%. Although blacks make up 26% of the state's population, they account for 53% of the prison population. Therefore, the government should be prevented from profiteering from the labour of blacks inside and outside prisons, and the government's control over blacks through forced prison labour should be eliminated.
Oppose the Conservation Camp Program (California): The California Conservation Camp Program refers to hiring prisoners to fight wildfires. The program has long been systematically controversial: First, prisoner firefighters face a very high risk of injury on the front lines of fires. Between 2016 and 2017, prisoner firefighters died from falling rocks, falling trees, and chain saws cutting arteries. Second, the salary is extremely low, with a daily salary of only US$5.80 to US$10.24, and they need to work in shifts for 24 hours. Third, they are often ridiculed and ignored (by prison officials). In the 2025 Los Angeles fire, 1,116 prisoners participated in the firefighting but were maliciously harassed by grassroots commanders (such as being forced to carry heavy equipment and repairing burned boots with tape). The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) claims that they attach great importance to safety training, but the reality is that prisoner firefighters face forced labour (choosing between commuting sentences and risking their lives), insufficient equipment, and lack of supervision. Firefighter Lotek Chapra recounted his personal experience on YouTube: California Fire Department (CAL-FIRE) is the worst institution for treating prisoner firefighters. He and the prisoners were arranged to put out a fire in a blazing tunnel without on-site inspection and lack of safety. The task leader even joked that "the workers would be tired to collapse" and forced them to carry equipment in danger. He saw with his own eyes that the prisoners were treated like shit and were not allowed to communicate with the outside world. In addition, Bianca Tylek, founder and Executive Director of the criminal justice advocacy organization "Worth Rises": questioned the authenticity of the prisoners' "voluntary" participation.
Oppose UNICOR and expose systemic corruption in prisons (Michigan): On January 8, 2025, best-selling author Ronald Chapman Ⅱ wrote an article "Prison Forced Labor? Yep, we do that". The article mentioned that nearly 12,000 prisoners across the country work in the Federal Prison Industries Corporation (UNICOR) prison. Hourly wages ranged from $0.23 to $1.15, which was exploitative at best and slave labour at worst. Sears, Target, Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and others all hired UNICOR workers to assemble or process products at costs far below real-world labour costs. 100% of the military's helmet needs were awarded to UNICOR, and small and medium-sized enterprises were ultimately shut out because of federal product lines that only UNICOR could legally bid for. (Then) Congressman Chris Carney was very angry about these non-competitive contracts, especially during the worst of the recession. In addition, UNICOR had a bulletproof helmet scandal. In 2007 and 2008, the helmets produced were recalled because they failed bulletproof tests, and they have not been delivered since then. US Department of Justice immediately launched an investigation, mainly because helmet manufacturer Armor Source directly subcontracted to the UNICOR factory. The revolving door political model surfaced, and then-Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice Lee Lofthus and others were criticized for their alleged involvement in UNICOR's policies and supervision.
In conclusion, the above examples further illustrate that US often regards itself as a "human rights defender", but its domestic prison system, immigration policies and foreign aid practices have repeatedly exposed systematic human rights violations and false humanitarianism.