"Sarah Towle joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her book "Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands" where she writes about how unwelcoming our government is to...
Valerie Lacarte, Ph.D., Aug. 2024 "The charge that immigrants are taking jobs from U.S.-born Black workers has made its way from conspiracy circles to the broader public conversation this election...
I have some thoughts for the Harris/Walz team, the Supreme Court, Congress, DHS, DOL, and DOJ regarding the border. Please consider subscribing to my free Substack . Comments welcome via Substack,...
Eric Asimov, New York Times, Aug. 27, 2024 (gift article) "Arjav Ezekiel rose through the restaurant ranks becoming a sommelier and opening Birdie’s in Austin, Texas. Few knew of his past...
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigration Project, Aug. 26. 2024 "A coalition of immigrants’ rights groups...
UCLA MPP, May 2023
"Over 70 years since its inception, a provision under an appropriations bill that the 95thUnited States Congress passed has allowed immigrant workers in detention centers to earnjust $1 a day. Working alongside our client, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice(CCIJ), we bring forth the experiences of detained immigrant labor strikers under theVoluntary Work Program. Our research aims to investigate living conditions, workingconditions, and the ongoing labor strike in two ICE immigrant detention centers operated bythe private detention corporation known as the GEO Group (GEO). Based on our findings, wepresent several policy options and recommend specific policy solutions aimed at improvingconditions for detained immigrants.We first provide background information on the relevant entities and stakeholders, as well ashistorical context and implications of the existing wage practices in private immigrantdetention. To support this research, we conducted a thorough review of the academicliterature on detention conditions, interviewed detained immigrants, and analyzed financialaccount data. In addition, we examined internal records, which included both grievancessubmitted by detainees and write-ups issued by detention officers.We found that all interviewees mentioned poor food quality and living conditions.Interviewees discussed the lack of proper cleaning and sanitation equipment in their workingconditions. Regarding the strike, many described the retaliation by GEO employees, resultingin additional write-ups and denying access to the commissary. We also found overarchingthemes beyond the sections, such as financial hardship or overall mistreatment by GEO staff.These overarching themes helped form the structure and topics of our research sections.The patterns that arose from our research allowed us to draft five policy options that eitherthe state of California or the federal government could implement to benefit detainedimmigrant workers. We evaluated the options based on four criteria: improving livingconditions, improving working conditions, financial feasibility, and political feasibility. Ourpolicy evaluation concludes that our highest priority recommendation is to implement “FairPay and Protections: Application of $15.50 California State Minimum-Wage and LaborProtections.”