KQED Highlights Immigrant Detainees Suit Over ‘Slavery’ Wages of $1 a Day

In a series of articles over the past six months (links below), KQED’s labor reporter Farida Jhabvala Romero has been closely tracking the lawsuit filed by RBGG, Centro Legal de la Raza, and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice to stop forced unpaid labor at immigrant detention facilities in California.  

On July 13, 2022, nine plaintiffs filed suit in federal court against The GEO Group, Inc., a private prison corporation contracted by the federal government to detain immigrants. Plaintiffs are suing to stop violations of California’s Labor Code, including its minimum wage provisions, and forced labor in violation of State and federal laws against trafficking. The complaint asserts six causes of action under California and federal law and seeks damages and injunctive relief. The plaintiffs also seek to certify the case as a class action.  The complaint is here.

According to RBGG’s Gay Grunfeld, “They are being forced to work under threat of sanctions, It’s shocking. These workers are forced to do an eight-hour shift for $1 a day. So that’s a blatant violation of California minimum wage laws and other labor protections.”

The detainees have been quoted extensively in the KQED coverage.  For example:

“’I stand up against unfair treatment. It’s like that slavery rate of $1 a day,’ said Mohammed Mousa, 41, an immigrant from Egypt who said detention center staff held him in solitary confinement for more than 40 days for supporting the strike.”

“’This is what they’re doing to retaliate against people who speak up. This is what they’re doing to intimidate us,’ Pedro Figueroa, 34, told KQED by phone from solitary confinement. Records show guards moved him to segregation shortly after he and other people in his dormitory joined the work stoppage.”

“Figueroa said he spent 40 hours a week scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms inside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield. ‘I chose not to work and voice my opinion respectfully, and that’s within my right,’ he said.”

Immigrant Detainees Continue Strike Over ‘Slavery’ Wages of $1 a Day, Report Retaliation, KQED, November 16, 2022
 

Original press release:

Complaint Filed to Stop Forced Unpaid Labor at Immigrant Detention Facilities

For Immediate Release

On July 13, 2022, nine plaintiffs filed suit in federal court against The GEO Group, Inc., a private prison corporation contracted by the federal government to detain immigrants. Plaintiffs are suing to stop violations of California’s Labor Code, including its minimum wage provisions, and forced labor in violation of State and federal laws against trafficking. The complaint asserts six causes of action under California and federal law and seeks damages and injunctive relief. The plaintiffs also seek to certify the case as a class action.  The complaint is here.

“GEO should not be allowed to profit from its ICE contract by forcing detained immigrants to undertake basic sanitation work necessary to run the facilities and paying them only $1 per day in violation of California’s minimum wage laws and other stringent labor protections,” said Gay Grunfeld, plaintiffs’ attorney.

“People in immigration custody cannot be forced to work under established precedent, yet GEO forces our clients to clean its detention facilities under threat of segregation and deprivation of basic necessities,” said Priya Patel, plaintiffs’ attorney.

“GEO is incentivized to obtain free labor from the people it detains and force them to pay excessive prices for food, phones, and other necessities. Our lawsuit seeks to stop these practices at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center and the Golden State Annex,” said Lisa Knox, plaintiffs’ attorney.

The case is Hernandez Gomez et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc., United States District Courtfor the Eastern District of California No. 1:22-cv-00868-BAK (EPG). Plaintiffs Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez, Salesh Prasad, Guillermo Medina Reyes, Edgar Sanchez, Adan Castillo Merino, Ivan Oliva Sierra, Fidel Garcia, Isaac Cardona Hernandez, and Pedro Jesus Figueroa Padilla are represented by Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP of San Francisco, Centro Legal deLa Raza of Oakland, and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, also of Oakland.

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Contact:

Gay Crosthwait Grunfeld
ROSEN BIEN
GALVAN & GRUNFELD LLP
(415) 433-6830
ggrunfeld@rbgg.com

Priya Arvind Patel
CENTRO LEGAL DE LA RAZA
(650) 762-8990
ppatel@centrolegal.org

Lisa V. Knox
CALIFORNIA COLLABORATIVE
FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE
(510) 230-6746
lisa@ccijustice.org

Selected media coverage: