1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

I am writing to you today to express my grave concern regarding the systemic abuse of power and the corruption of the rule of law within the country's rapidly developing private immigration detention system. It has come to light that private contractors, specifically GEO Group and CoreCivic, are operating what can only be described as a captive labor scheme under the guise of immigration enforcement. https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-jury-finds-geo-profit-operator-tacoma-ice-detention-center-must-pay These corporations are extracting labor from detainees at rates as low as one dollar per day. This is not a matter of providing vocational training or maintaining order; it is a business model designed to maximize corporate profits by exploiting people who have no legal recourse. Most disturbingly, a significant majority of these individuals are held on civil charges and have no criminal convictions. Forcing non-criminals into involuntary servitude is a blatant violation of the 13th Amendment and a betrayal of the American principle that the state should not profit from the deprivation of liberty. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-denies-geo-group-quick-appeal-immigrant-detainee-labor-case-2026-02-25/ This practice is a modern iteration of one of the most shameful chapters of our history, echoing the era of race-based convict leasing in the Jim Crow era where the state and private interests conspired to monetize incarceration. When corporate profits soar while the laborers are paid pennies an hour, the incentive is no longer to secure our borders, but to keep beds full and labor cheap. The recent political interference in the National Labor Relations Board, evidenced by the removal of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, the dismissal of General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Mesa Verde Detention Facility complaint (Case 31-CA-309785) against GeoGroup just shows that this system is designed to be unaccountable. I ask that you lead an immediate congressional investigation into these contracts to expose the extent of this exploitation. We must move beyond mere fines, which these companies treat as a cost of doing business. I urge you to propose legislation that imposes strict criminal penalties on corporate executives who coerce labor from civil detainees. Furthermore, we must establish a right of private redress, allowing victims of this forced labor to sue these contractors directly in federal court for damages. I look forward to your leadership in restoring integrity to our detention system.