Qamar Bashir
Former Press Secretary to the President
Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France
Former MD, SRBC, CEO, ATV
I recently met with a former incarcerated U.S. citizen during a gathering near Detroit, Michigan, who made some startling revelations about the status of slavery in the U.S. He explained that while the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, it contains an exception for incarcerated individuals, who are treated as slaves and deprived of many rights enjoyed by free citizens. He argued that the government, Senate, Congress, and politicians are complicit in strengthening law enforcement agencies, creating stringent laws, and allocating disproportionate funds to increase incarceration. By expanding the prison population, corporations exploit incarcerated individuals as cheap labor, inflating their profits, which are then funneled into political campaigns and government officials, creating a perpetual cycle with no end in sight.
He also mentioned that U.S. prisons have become hotspots for forced labor, where inmates work for large corporations and receive meager wages. For example, while free workers may earn $20 to $30 per hour, prisoners performing similar tasks earn as little as $20 per month. Companies like McDonald’s and Walmart have been linked to the use of prison labor for tasks such as manufacturing and packaging, where inmates are paid minimal wages. These revelations prompted me to dive deeper into the 13th Amendment and its exception clause, as I found it difficult to believe that a country known for championing freedom and democracy could still harbor any form of slavery.
Further research revealed that private prison companies, such as CoreCivic and GEO Group, have spent millions lobbying for policies that promote mass incarceration, such as mandatory minimum sentences and harsher laws. These companies, benefiting from a steady stream of low-cost labor, contribute to political campaigns, ensuring that the cycle of mass incarceration continues. The business model behind prisoner exploitation, enabled by the 13th Amendment’s exception clause, has gradually gained more attention, particularly in recent years. Throughout the 20th century, both major political parties largely ignored this issue, focusing instead on “law and order” policies, especially during the War on Drugs in the 1980s and 1990s, which expanded the prison system.
In the 21st century, advocacy for criminal justice reform has risen, particularly during President Barack Obama’s administration, though the focus remained more on sentencing reform and addressing racial disparities, with less emphasis on the 13th Amendment exception. Progressive Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have recently pushed to end prison labor exploitation, advocating for more comprehensive reform. On the other hand, Republicans, particularly under Donald Trump, passed the First Step Act in 2018, a bipartisan effort to reform sentencing laws, though it did not address the prison labor issue. Despite increasing awareness from civil rights groups and progressive voices, the topic has yet to become a major focus of either party’s platform in the 2024 Harris-Trump campaign.
The lack of attention to prisoner enslavement from both major political parties has left a void filled by advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), led by Bryan Stevenson. These groups, along with others like the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), and Critical Resistance, are working to end the exploitation of prison labor. They argue that the prison labor system, perpetuated by the 13th Amendment’s exception clause, continues to fuel economic and racial inequalities.
This research led me to question how the ecosystem of prisoner exploitation could become such a significant monetary incentive that neither side of the political spectrum addresses it directly. I discovered that, as of 2023, approximately 800,000 of the 2.1 million incarcerated individuals in the U.S. are subjected to forced labor. The value of goods and services produced by this labor is estimated to be between $11 and $14 billion annually, with prisoners paid a fraction of what free workers earn. The relationship between corporations, lawmakers, and law enforcement agencies creates a cycle where higher incarceration rates benefit private companies. As these profits rise, they fund political campaigns and lobbying efforts, making the prison-industrial complex self-sustaining as long as corporate and political interests align.
In recent years, there have been efforts to abolish the 13th Amendment’s exception clause, with some states like Colorado and Utah amending their constitutions to prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude, even for prisoners. However, the political and economic incentives tied to the prison system make it a deeply entrenched issue. Without significant reform, the cycle of exploitation will likely continue, sustained by the intersection of corporate interests, political influence, and the legal framework that enables prison labor.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, while abolishing slavery in 1865, contains an exception that allows for involuntary servitude “as a punishment for crime.” This exception has created a legal framework in which incarcerated individuals can be forced to work under exploitative conditions, often for extremely low wages. In 2023, the U.S. prison population stood at approximately 2.1 million people, with an estimated 800,000 engaged in some form of prison labor. These individuals are often paid far below minimum wage, sometimes as little as $0.23 per hour. This practice contradicts the spirit of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, as it disproportionately affects minority groups, particularly African Americans, who are incarcerated at higher rates and are subjected to harsh labor conditions that would be considered unacceptable for non-incarcerated workers.
The exception also violates international human rights standards. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), to which the U.S. is a signatory, expressly prohibits slavery and forced labor in Article 4. Additionally, Article 23 guarantees the right to just and favorable conditions of work, which prisoners do not receive under current practices.
Moreover, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the U.S. in 1992, similarly prohibits forced labor except under lawful punishment, though this exception has been widely criticized as enabling the exploitation of prisoners.
Additionally, the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for the abolition of forced labor in all forms. Despite these international commitments, the prison labor system benefits both private corporations and state-run institutions despite the fact the economic incentive perpetuates the cycle of exploitation and contradicts the principles of human dignity and equality enshrined in both the U.S. Constitution and international human rights law.
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