Farms Are Paying For Prisoners to Pick Crops
This spring, Idaho State Senator Patti Ann Lodge, R-Huston sponsored a bill, S.B. 1374, which was signed into law by Governor CL "Butch" Otter, that enables private employers to hire state prisoners for agricultural labor, according to TakePart.com.
As comprehensive immigration policy reform stalls in the US legislature, some states have turned to their own prison populations to supplement agricultural labor shortages.
"People aren’t coming across [the border] like they used to. There just isn’t the labor that there’s been before," said Senator Lodge. "There aren’t as many migrants that follow the work like they used to."
Nearly 70% of the United States' agricultural workforce is from Mexico, and harsh immigration measures are making it difficult for farmers in some states to find enough labor.
Prisoner work programs are nothing new. Georgia had a chain gang program from 1908 until 1955.
In addition to the Idaho program, there are several similar prisoner work programs in states across the country, including Georgia, Arizona, and Washington.
The way the current Idaho program works, a private employer hires prison laborers and pays them a starting wage of $15.48. However, part of a prisoner's wages is returned to the Department of Corrections, and sometimes more goes to victim restitution, court fees and other debts.
Workers do not have any sick days, vacation time, or insurance. They also cannot unionize.
Lodge stressed the rehabilitative value of the new program, available to "low-risk" prisoners. Idaho has a 53% recidivism rate, in part because it's difficult for former inmates to find jobs when they get out. Perhaps agricultural work could help some prisoners post-incarceration, but right now this is difficult to measure.
This is a controversial issue, but in some ways this program seems to be a win-win. The program is said to be voluntary, and prisoners get to leave prison and be outdoors to work.
Idaho's Offenders at Work Program
