Molly Muoio · July 2023
91 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 41
Abhorrent conditions and human rights violations in U.S. migrant detention centers have garnered significant public outcry. Articles and activists have decried “kids in cages” and family separations at the southern border. Yet little attention has been paid to a longstanding administrative program that exploits detainees and benefits from their forced labor. Reports show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Voluntary Work Program (“VWP”) is anything but voluntary. The program on its face endorses paying detainees one dollar for eight hours (or more) of work per day and in practice leaves detainees with little opportunity to refuse to participate. Coercion, direct orders, and desperation have provided detention centers with a cheap source of labor to sustain their operations while detainees await the conclusion of their immigration proceedings. This Note argues that the VWP violates international law and explores a theory of liability for forced labor under the Alien Tort Statute. Courts should find that the VWP is illegal under international standards and open the door to global and domestic pressure on Congress to abolish or reform this insidious program.
