Increased Use of Prison Farm Labor: Due to Aggressive Immigration Enforcement?
Stian Rice on The Conversation sees the increased use of prison labor in agriculture as a result of increased immigration enforcement measures that have reduced the supply of farm labor. He writes that prison inmates are picking fruits and vegetables at a rate not seen since Jim Crow.
Convict leasing for agriculture – a system that allows states to sell prison labor to private farms – became infamous in the late 1800s for the brutal conditions it imposed on captive, mostly Black workers. Federal and state laws prohibited convict leasing for most of the 20th century, but the once-notorious practice is making a comeback. Under lucrative arrangements, states are increasingly leasing prisoners to private corporations to harvest food for American consumers.
As current immigration enforcement policies diminish the supply of migrant workers (both documented and undocumented), farmers are not able to find the labor they need. Consequently, in states such as Arizona, Idaho and Washington that grow labor-intensive crops like onions, apples and tomatoes, prison systems have responded by leasing convicts to growers needing workers.
In this Library of Congress photo from 1903, juvenile convicts are shown at work in the fields, location unknown. Library of Congress/Detroit Publishing Co.
KJ