Contact: Esperanza Cuautle | 510-910-9325 | advocate[@]pangealegal.org

June 17, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Golden State Annex Price-Gouging Initiates Labor Strike

Inedible food in commissary marked-up and heavily taxed

MCFARLAND, CA – Immigrant workers detained at the Golden State Annex (GSA) issued the following statement due to the exorbitant cost of commissary items that are often sold past expiration date, and are now being heavily taxed without advanced notice: 

“We are individuals detained at the Golden State Annex. We might be detained here due to our civil immigration matters, however, we are also workers inside this facility. Many of us participate in the “volunteer worker program” to lift some of the financial burden our families must deal with due to the extremely high cost of phone calls and commissary items. We are being exploited for our labor and are paid $1 per day to clean the dormitories. Meanwhile, private prison corporations like The GEO Group receive tens of millions each year to accommodate us detained in ICE custody. 

The food that is provided to us at GSA lacks any level of nutritional value. In fact, we are consistently served spoiled milk and inedible food with foreign objects found in them, as a new report has found. Those of us who get food at the dining hall last are regularly served watered down food because the facility allegedly ran out. GSA is well-aware that many of us rely on the $1 we earn to purchase items from the commissary to supplement our daily diets as well as make phone calls to our families and loved ones. The commissary items, such as tortillas, Honey Buns, chips, and meat pouches, are not nutritious. The worst part is they are sold past their expiration date, as evident by the mold that grows on the items and their stale flavor. 

If this was not enough, GSA increased both prices and taxes on items that we buy frequently without advanced notice. We buy commissary once a week and GSA is pretty much taking a week's worth of pay in taxes per order. Are the millions of taxpayer dollars and profits not enough for The GEO Group? This is a clear sign of exploitation and cruel treatment of every individual at this facility. 

Lastly, we stand in solidarity with the workers detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center who are on their 50th day of strike protesting the unsanitary conditions the facility puts them through, especially during the ongoing pandemic, a situation many of us here also experienced. These are not isolated events as The GEO Group has made clear that their priorities lie in profits over people, a business model that inherently violates human rights to increase profit margin.

We will be on strike until the facility eliminates the commissary tax, provides a variety of items that are not expired, and reduces prices on popular items.”

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Many participants in the “volunteer worker program” rely on the $1 per day compensation to call their family members and loved ones or purchase items in commissary, which are often expired or moldy, as a new report has found. A fundraiser has been launched to support the labor strikers’ efforts.