Does Texas Employ Prison Slave Labor?
Slave labor is alive and well in Texas, and its products are all around you, critics point out.
Landwebs
Although President Joe Biden recently banned products made by unpaid prison labor in China, it is clear that in Texas, one of only five states where forced labor continues, everything from engine parts to cookout grills can be manufactured by an incarcerated felon earning no wages and facing punishment for refusing to do so, reports Chris Tomlinson in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle. Texas has the largest state prison population in the country, and state law requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to use their labor as much as possible without pay.
While working can help speed an incarcerated person’s release and perhaps teach them a valuable skill, refusing to work can extend the time they spend in prison. Texas offers a chance for the incarcerated to work for private companies and earn a wage under the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program. The laborer can even make above minimum wage learning a valuable skill. But the state deducts the bulk of the earned income for taxes, room and board, family support, restitution and a crime victims’ fund. In December, 66 out of 121,000 people were enrolled in the program. Meanwhile, Texas Correctional Industries brings in more than $70 million a year for the prison system from unpaid inmate labor.
