Class Action Alleges CoreCivic Uses Forced Labor from Immigrant Detainees for Profit

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Five plaintiffs have brought a proposed class action against CoreCivic, Inc., which operates the Otay Mesa Detention Center civil immigration detainment facility in California as well as other detention centers nationwide, over allegations the company has exploited proposed class members for free or nearly free labor in an effort to maximize profits. The 25-page complaint says CoreCivic pays detainees “$1 or $1.50 per day—or nothing at all” to maintain its facility.

“This labor is not voluntary in any meaningful sense,” the plaintiffs assert. “CoreCivic maintains a corporate policy and uniform practices at the Otay Mesa Facility of withholding necessary protection, care and services from its detainees to ensure a ready supply of labor needed to operate the facility.”

On a larger scale, the plaintiffs say they must submit to the defendant’s alleged forced labor “scheme” in order to buy basic necessities—food, water, warm clothing, medicine, hygiene products, the case says—that CoreCivic reportedly does not provide. 

Of those who refuse to work while housed at CoreCivic, the complaint says the defendant threatens such individuals with solitary confinement, disallowing communication and visits with family or reporting their actions to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

The lawsuit alleges CoreCivic’s labor policies violate California’s minimum wage and unfair competition laws and federal and state regulations to protect victims of trafficking.