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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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""He and the rest of the detainees were offered by one of the agents inside the facility. He worked in the kitchen for 8 hours each day," an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee's daughter who says her father is working at the facility for $1 a day told Newsweek. "He's not 100% sure where the $1 goes."
Her father, who normally works as a nursery home dietary in Illinois, was arrested by ICE agents while driving home with his wife after grocery shopping one morning last month, his daughter said.
The family, who requested annonymity citing fear of reprisal, said he has no criminal record and was awaiting an immigration hearing related to his pending asylum application.
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Detainees in ICE custody can participate in voluntary work programs within detention facilities, according to a 2025 ICE policy paper reviewed by Newsweek. Under ICE’s detention standards, detainees working at a facility must be paid a minimum of $1 pay per day, and those facilities are required to have a system to ensure owed wages are paid before transfer or release.
Human rights groups have criticized ICE's $1 policy. An Amnesty International spokesperson told Newsweek it was “modern-day system of prison labor” that is "exploitative, degrading."
When contacted by Newsweek, the Department of Homeland did not address the $1 a day policy. A spokesperson said those in the country illegally can self-deport or "be arrested, detained, and deported."
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Why It Matters
ICE's $1-a-day pay policy for detainees remains a flashpoint for legal, political, and human rights debate.
It has faced several legal challenges in recent years, with some areas now paying state-level minimum wage.
The policy now faces a test in the highest court. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from a private prison company facing a lawsuit alleging immigration detainees were made to work for $1 a day in Colorado.
What To Know
Detainees who take part in the voluntary work program may be scheduled to work up to eight hours per day and no more than 40 hours per week, according to ICE's policy.
"Detainees may volunteer for temporary work details that occasionally arise. The work, which generally lasts from several hours to several days, can involve digging trenches, removing topsoil, and other labor-intensive work. High custody detainees will not, under any circumstances, work outside the secure outer perimeter," the policy reads.
Experts told Newsweek the $1-per-day wage for ICE detainees is based on the government’s classification of detainees as volunteers rather than employees, which exempts them from federal labor protections, including the $7.25-per-hour federal minimum wage.
Legal challenges have focused on whether detainees working for private contractors should be considered employees under state law and, therefore, entitled to higher wages.
How much detainees are paid often depends on who operates the facility. Detainees in privately run centers have sued, arguing state minimum-wage laws apply. In some cases, courts awarded backpay to workers who received the token federal rate.
In Washington state in October 2021, a jury awarded $17.3 million in backpay to detainees who had been paid $1 per day. More than 10,000 detainees won an average award of about $1,700, their attorney said at the time.
Appeals courts have affirmed that private contractors can be subject to state wage laws despite operating under federal contracts, and the issue has drawn Supreme Court attention.
The high court is scheduled to hear a case from private prison company the GEO Group which appealed after an appeals court refused to throw out a 2014 lawsuit alleging detainees had to perform both unpaid janitorial work and other jobs for little pay to supplement meals at a facility in Aurora, Colorado.
The company says its pay rates are in line with ICE rules and the migrants cannot sue because it is operating the facility on behalf of the federal government, which is immune from such lawsuits.
What People Are Saying
Amnesty International USA’s director for refugee and migrant rights, Amy Fischer, told Newsweek. told Newsweek: “The long-standing ICE policy that allows detained immigrants to receive as little as $1 per day for voluntary labor is a disgrace."
“This dehumanizing practice causes real harm for people in detention. This meager payment is often the only way for people to access necessities such as phone calls to family, hygiene products, or food from the commissary to supplement what is provided, as facilities across the U.S. are overcrowded with deteriorating conditions," she said.
"The U.S. government must end this abusive practice and ensure that no one is coerced to work behind bars and that those who choose to work are fairly compensated for their labor," she added.
Andrew Fels, an attorney at Al Otro Lado, told Newsweek: "When other countries pay captive workers a dollar a day, the federal government rightly condemns the practice as forced labor. But when DHS does it, the federal government calls it immigration policy. Nothing prevents DHS from ending this practice tomorrow—it’s a choice, not a mandate."
Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, told Newsweek: “The fact of the matter is those who are in this country illegally have a choice. They can use the CBP Home app and receive a free flight and a $1,000 check, or they can be arrested, detained, and deported."
What Happens Next
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear the GEO Group's case during its 2025-26 term.
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