The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. April 19, 2018 Georgia: Immigrants Sue For-Profit Prison, Alleging Forced Labor ---------------------------------------------------------------- In Georgia, immigrants imprisoned at a for-profit detention center have filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming they were forced to work for eight dollars a day-or less-in violation of U.S. labor law. The suit alleges that prisoners at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia who refuse to join so-called "voluntary" work programs face retaliation by guards, including threats of criminal prosecution. One former prisoner says he worked eight-hour shifts in the prison's kitchen for up to seven days per week, earning just four dollars per day; he says when he refused to work he was put in solitary confinement for 10 days. The prison is operated by Core Civic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America. .