In America, as with many other countries, it is against the law to hire illegal immigrants.
It is therefore an interesting statistic that America's largest employer of illegal immigrants is......the American federal government.
It is thought that up to 60,000 illegal immigrants, or immigrants awaiting their immigration status to be verified, work in the kitchens and laundries in the detention centres in which they are held. Their rate of pay is usually $1 a day or less. Some earn nothing. The federal minimum wage in America is $7.25.
One dollar a day equates to only 13 cents per hour, but a saving of over $40 million for the government as work within the centres does not need to be contracted out.
While some may end up being deported for entering America to work illegally, others upon eventual investigation, are found to have a legal status to stay.
If there is suspicion that they have entered the country illegally or they have been working without correct documentation do they therefore relinquish their rights to earn a fair wage?
Given the impact illegal workers have on the economy especially in terms of lost tax revenue is this a justified action by the federal government to use their cheap labour to save money?
Is the federal government's treatment of them justified or is this exploitation on a grand scale?
Maybe it depends on one's definition of justice?
Read more here and take time to look at the slide show of images as they tell a powerful story:
Image: Image source
It is proposed that the American federal government should be able to continue to require detainees to work for low pay