The United States is one of the most modern countries in the world, yet we have the largest prison population which is growing rapidly every year. One would think that our country would have the lowest population (per capita) for several reasons, which really do not need to be listed. Sadly, the greed and corruption of our private corporations have taken over, and their main concern is passing laws which are designed to increase the prison population. Should the passing of an illegal immigrant law back fire due to a large percentage of illegals leaving the state, which is what is happening in Alabama, then there are other ways in which to profit….
According to a posting in The Raw Story:
Alabama farmers have proposed using prisoners to work their fields to replace migrants who fled the state after it passed the country’s harshest anti-immigration law, officials said Tuesday.
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry officials met Tuesday [December 6, 2011] in Mobile with farmers to discuss their proposal, a spokeswoman for the department told AFP.
“The suggestion to use prisoners who are eligible for work release programs was made as a way to help farmers fill the gap and find sufficient labor,” said Amy Belcher.
A statement by the department said the meeting with the farmers was convened “to help solve the chronic labor shortages created by Alabama’s new immigration law.”
Known as HB56, the new law requires local police to verify the immigration status of anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” of being in the country illegally.
The administration of President Barack Obama has challenged the constitutionality of the law, arguing it infringes on federal powers, and federal courts have blocked key provisions pending a definitive ruling.
But the law touched off an exodus of mainly Hispanic workers who moved to other states because of fears of being deported, prompting complaints by farm and construction industry groups of a shortage of workers in one of the poorest US states.
The state has released no official figures on how many workers have been lost since the law went into effect in September.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there were about 120,000 undocumented immigrants living in the state before the law passed.
What the article failed to include was the tie of this law to the private prison industry. HB56 was passed under the guise of tackling the problem with illegal immigrants, however the underlying truth is with this law enacted, the prison population will increase. These will all be non-violent crimes, and most private prisons (such as CCA) only house lower level, non-violent criminals. Therefore, a rise in the number incarcerated equates to more profit to the investors.
According to the Alabama state farmers, now that so many immigrants have left the state, then there is little labor left. In actuality, there are plenty of unemployed people looking for work, however, farmers have typically paid the migrant workers much less than minimum wage – which they would be required to do with a US citizen. So now that their cheap labor has left, who better to bring in to the fields but the cheapest labor of them all… the prisoners. And chances are, the farmers will pay even less to the private prison corporations than what they paid to the migrant workers, and in turn the prison will pay the prisoner the standard ten cents per hour – thus profiting more money.
Our private prison industry is a blatant conflict of interest as they have lobbyists which promote the passing of laws such as HB56. No company should ever exist which makes a profit from the incarceration of man. Prisons need to go completely back into the hands of the states.
In this photo below, notice that the bunks now have three tiers. Packing them in like sardines.
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