Private prison companies GEO Group and CoreCivic have been the subject of at least five lawsuits over detainee pay. The companies have been accused of using voluntary work programs to bypass state labor laws. (Getty Images)
A group of Republican lawmakers is urging U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to defend a private prison company that is being sued by former inmates who claim they were forced to work for a wage of $1 a day.
In a letter dated March 7, 18 GOP congressman argue that “alien detainees” are not employees of private prisons and should not be able to file lawsuits seeking payment for their work.
The letter was first reported by the Daily Beast.
“It is our expectation that you will soon get involved in this litigation and take the position that these lawsuits lack legal merit and should be dismissed,” the letter reads.
Private prison companies GEO Group and CoreCivic have been the subject of at least five lawsuits over detainee pay. The companies have been accused of using voluntary work programs to bypass state labor laws.
One lawsuit against GEO for instance, filed by the state of Washington last year, sought to force the company relinquish its profits that it supposedly made by violating minimum wage laws.
Eighteen GOP lawmakers signed a letter to the Attorney General urging the Justice Department to address several lawsuits against private prison operators, filed by "pro-immigration groups" and "activist state government officials." (U.S. House of Representatives)
The Republican lawmakers' letter argues that paying immigrant detainees more than $1 a day would “drain the federal government of limited taxpayer resources” and that immigrant advocates have raised the overall cost of detention by discouraging cooperation with federal authorities.
As of Friday, there was no indication that Sessions’ office received the letter, the Washington Post reported, citing a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice.
“Unless your agencies act to intervene in these lawsuits, immigration enforcement efforts will be thwarted,” the letter reads.
Bradford Betz is an editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @bradford_betz.
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