Labor: Inmates should help bring in the harvest

The Northwest Detention Center on the Tacoma Tideflats houses almost 1,000 immigrants awaiting hearings. Detainees have virtually no fresh-air access, no exercise options, and, if they choose to work within the facility, receive only $1 a day.

Why not allow those who are willing and are not a flight risk to work picking strawberries at the standard rate of pay ? Many were their family’s primary wage earners and this would certainly help. Based on recent reports of labor shortages, it does not appear the detainees would be displacing other workers.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Labor: Inmates should help bring in the harvest."