One System, One Struggle: Uniting Immigration Justice and Slavery Abolition

Bridging the Gap Between ICE Detention and Mass Incarceration

In Virginia, we know the truth many people still refuse to confront: slavery never ended. It evolved. It changed its name, shifted its targets, and rebuilt itself into the systems we now call “mass incarceration” and “immigration detention.” And today, these systems are expanding—feeding on fear, racial division, and political violence—while our communities pay the price.

Yet too often, even within our movements, we treat these struggles as separate. We fight prison labor over here and deportations over there. We organize against ICE in one room and against forced prison labor in another. Meanwhile, the system we’re fighting—the modern machinery of bondage—operates as one coordinated, ruthless whole.

Let’s be absolutely clear:

Immigration detention is not a side issue. It is not a “civil” matter. It is modern-day slavery, built from the same foundations, fueled by the same profit motives, and justified by the same racist logic that has shaped America since its beginning.

The same corporations that lobby to keep Virginia’s prisons full also lobby to expand detention centers. The same loophole in the 13th Amendment that allows forced labor in prisons is mirrored in the exploitation of detained immigrants. The same communities torn apart by incarceration are targeted by ICE raids. This is not coincidence—it is design.

If we are serious about abolition—then we must recognize this reality: there is no ending slavery in Virginia without confronting immigration detention. And there is no ending immigrant detention without confronting mass incarceration.

They are not parallel fights.

They are one fight.

One system. One struggle.

Abolition demands that we bridge these movements, build shared power, and confront the carceral state as the unified beast it truly is. Because our opposition is coordinated. Our oppression is interconnected. And so must our liberation be.

Mass Incarceration = Immigration Detention

Immigration detention centers don’t just resemble prisons—they are prisons, operated by the same private prison corporations, run on the same carceral logic, and profiting off the same dehumanization of people. And just like our jails and state prisons, these detention centers are overwhelmingly filled with Black and Brown bodies; people held not because they are dangerous, but because they are politically and economically vulnerable.

In the U.S., immigration detention is technically a civil process. But the reality on the ground tells a different story. Detained immigrants are shackled, locked in cages, denied adequate medical care, abused, and often forced into labor for little or no pay--just like incarcerated people in our so-called “criminal justice system.” This is not an accident. It is by design.

The 13th Amendment carved out a loophole that legalized slavery “as punishment for a crime.” That same legal and moral logic now extends to detention without criminal conviction. It’s not just prisoners who are forced to work; it’s immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers as well. The system doesn’t care if your charges are civil or criminal. It cares that you are exploitable.

A System of Social Control

This is not just about cages. It’s about control. The prison-industrial complex functions as a system of racialized social management, targeting those made most vulnerable by colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. Whether through over-policing, mandatory minimums, ICE raids, or racist border policies, the goal remains the same: to contain and extract labor from those deemed disposable and fuel the billion dollar industries of the PIC.

The result is devastating: broken families, deported loved ones, communities gutted by incarceration, and billions funneled to the corporations and agencies that profit from the warehousing of bodies. GEO Group and CoreCivic don’t care if it’s an immigrant or a nonviolent drug offender behind those bars, as long as the beds are full and the contracts keep flowing.

The Machinery of Modern Bondage

The prison-industrial complex and immigration detention system aren’t just similar—they’re components of the same machine. Both systems extract profit from human captivity, both rely on the dehumanization of vulnerable populations, and both perpetuate cycles of exploitation that echo the darkest chapters of American history.

Consider the numbers: the United States incarcerates over 1.9 million people and detains hundreds of thousands more in immigration facilities. In Virginia alone, facilities like the Immigration Centers of America in Farmville and Caroline, and multiple county jails contracting with ICE hold thousands of immigrants, while the state’s correctional system houses over 30,000 incarcerated individuals. Private prison corporations like CoreCivic and GEO Group operate facilities in both systems, generating billions in revenue from contracts that incentivize keeping beds filled. When occupancy rates drop in one sector, these companies simply pivot resources to the other.

The profit motive is stark. Detained individuals in both systems perform labor for as little as $1 per day—sometimes less—while the corporations housing them receive $100-300 per person per day from government contracts. This isn’t coincidence; it’s design. The 13th Amendment’s exception allowing slavery “as punishment for crime” has been weaponized to justify prison labor, while immigration detention operates in legal gray areas that enable similar exploitation.

Our Chains, Reimagined: The Legacy of Slavery in Today's Cages

To understand the cages of today, we must confront the chains of yesterday. Our current carceral systems are not new phenomena; they are direct descendants of historical practices of slavery and racialized social control.

The Thirteenth Amendment, while formally abolishing slavery in 1865, left an insidious, gaping loophole:

“neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”

This loophole was intentional, and it was immediately weaponized after the Civil War to re-enslave newly freed Black Americans through convict leasing, enforced by a regime of fabricated or minor charges under the Black Codes. A barely-there prison population prior to the war increased exponentially at rates that cannot be explained by crime—they can only be explained by policy. State governments, railroads, coal mines, plantations, and private corporations all found ways to profit from this new form of legalized bondage. In many Southern states, the prison became the plantation, and the badge became the whip.

Convict leasing was not a side note in American history—it was a central economic engine of Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Black men, women, and children were arrested for “vagrancy,” “loitering,” or even failing to produce a labor contract. Courts and sheriffs worked hand-in-glove with industry to guarantee a steady supply of forced laborers. Mortality rates in some camps reached 40% within a single year. This was slavery reborn—raw, violent, profitable.

And while the formal system of convict leasing was eventually abolished, the logic behind it was not. The punishment clause remained intact, continuing to justify coercive, unpaid, and abusive labor behind bars. The prison boom of the 20th century—accelerated by the War on Drugs, racist sentencing disparities, and the rise of the “tough on crime” era—has produced a mass incarceration crisis that is unimaginable without understanding its origins. The same populations targeted after emancipation remain the most policed, prosecuted, and punished today.A barely there prison population prior to the war increased exponentially at rates that

The Virginia Supreme Court, in Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871), even went so far as to describe a prisoner as a “slave of the State,” solidifying the legal justification for this exploitation. In this context, it is clear that slavery never ended, property rights and ownership just transferred from individual to state.

This same sickening logic now extends to civil immigration detention, where human beings are exploited for profit, regardless of conviction.

The parallels with the 19th-century Fugitive Slave Acts are chilling—both historical and contemporary systems created "tiered personhood," denying full rights and treating people as disposable property under the guise of "national security" or "economic necessity". This isn't just history; it's the foundational design principle of U.S. policy: adapting legal frameworks to manage and exploit populations deemed "other" or "disposable".

The "Migration or Importation Clause" in the Constitution itself, linking slavery and immigration in the nation's founding, suggests this interconnectedness was baked into the nation's legal DNA, facilitating the exploitation of "poor immigrant workers" as a direct legacy of slavery. To ignore these roots is to fight a battle half-blind. The core impulse behind these systems is control and profit, not justice.

Shared Roots, Shared Suffering

Both systems disproportionately target the same communities. Black Americans represent 13% of the population but nearly 40% of the incarcerated population. Immigrants and refugees, regardless of documentation status, face criminalization through policies that transform civil immigration violations into criminal offenses.

The pipeline between these systems reveals their interconnection. Immigrants caught in the criminal justice system face mandatory detention and deportation. Formerly incarcerated individuals struggle with employment and housing barriers that push them toward undocumented work, creating vulnerability to immigration enforcement. Families are separated by both systems, communities are destabilized by both, and the trauma compounds across generations.

Even the physical infrastructure overlaps. Many immigration detention facilities are former prisons. In Virginia, rural communities like Farmville have been sold the promise that detention facilities will bring economic development, but these same areas often already house state correctional facilities. The same architects design both types of facilities. The same private security companies staff them. The same medical contractors provide inadequate healthcare. The same commissary companies profit from overpriced basic necessities.

Profits from Pain: How Corporations Fuel the Cages

The expansion of both mass incarceration and immigration detention isn't about public safety; it's about staggering corporate profits. This is the "immigrant-industrial complex"—the prison-industrial complex’s sinister twin, and America’s fastest-growing system of incarceration.

In a story broadcasted just last month by WUSA9 it was reported that immigration arrests have surged 470% in Virginia so far this year — with 61% having NO criminal record.

When criminal justice reforms led to decreased traditional prison populations and idle facilities, private prison giants like GEO Group and CoreCivic simply pivoted. They actively sought to repurpose these for immigrant detention, showcasing the industry’s adaptability and determination to maintain profits. They don't care who fills the beds—whether an immigrant or a nonviolent drug offender—only that they stay full and contracts continue to flow.

ICE facilitates this cruelty with "no-bid contracts," citing "compelling urgency" to rapidly increase detention capacity. This fast-tracks expansion and directly boosts their billions. CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger reportedly boasted,

"I've worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods of my career. We anticipate significant growth opportunities, perhaps the most significant growth in our company's history, over the next several years.”

The Unbearable Truth: Shared Horrors Behind Bars

The horrors are the same, whether you're in a "criminal" prison or an "immigrant" detention center. The striking similarities in inhumane conditions solidify our argument: these are not separate systems, but components of a single, unified carceral nightmare.

Forced Labor: Exploitation for Pennies, or Nothing

From the moment you step inside, the exploitation begins. In both prisons and immigrant detention, individuals are denied minimum wage and basic workplace health and safety standards, forced into labor for pennies—or nothing. Wages typically average between 13 and 52 cents per hour nationwide, with up to 80% often deducted for “administrative costs” by the facility.

This "captive labor" is rooted in the 13th Amendment loophole that permits involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.

Approximately 800,000 people in state and federal prisons are prison laborers, performing vital functions like fighting wildfires and maintaining facilities, saving billions for public and private sectors. Detained immigrants face similar exploitation, performing essential tasks like cooking and cleaning within detention centers for little or no pay. This isn't just exploitation; it's a modern form of debt peonage, forcing the dehumanized to subsidize their own cages. The system literally profits from the suffering it creates, solidifying its economic dependence on exploited labor. This shared forced labor, slavery in its modern form, is a bedrock of the Prison Industrial Complex—and a clear call for unified resistance. 

A Crisis of Care: Medical Neglect and Preventable Deaths

Across both systems, a crisis of care results in suffering and preventable deaths. Incarcerated individuals in U.S. prisons and jails exhibit a higher prevalence of chronic health conditions, yet correctional healthcare is consistently low-quality and difficult to access. Over half of U.S. state prison systems have been legally ordered by courts to improve their medical and mental healthcare. Medical neglect is a significant factor in hundreds of deaths annually despite a constitutional right to healthcare.

Detained immigrants face similarly dire conditions, usually even worse than that of correctional facilities due to almost complete lack of oversight: unsanitary confinement, pervasive lack of adequate medical care, denial of essential prescription medicines, and preventable deaths are the norm. Egregious violations of ICE’s own medical care standards contribute to numerous deaths, yet inspections often dismiss critical violations. This pervasive neglect isn't failure; it's a systemic outcome of "deliberate indifference" that prioritizes cost-cutting and control over human life.

Private companies consistently prioritize profit over detainee well-being. This consistent failure to provide basic human dignity and health reinforces that both systems treat people as "expendable property" rather than human beings, making joint abolition efforts essential.

The Torture of Isolation: Solitary Confinement in Both Systems

Solitary confinement, or "segregation" as ICE calls it, is a tool of torture extensively used in both systems. A report reveals over 14,000 placements in solitary confinement in ICE custody in the past five years alone—a figure published before Trump took office.. The average time spent, 27 days, significantly exceeds the 15-day threshold at which UN human rights experts consider isolation to be torture. Despite policies stating rare use, particularly for vulnerable populations, it's frequently employed as punishment for minor infractions or in retaliation for complaints.

Over 122,000 people are held in isolation for 22 or more hours a day in state and federal prisons. This practice causes severe physical, mental, and psychological harm, including hallucinations, suicidal ideation, and PTSD. It disproportionately impacts individuals with mental illness and Black women. The widespread, punitive use of solitary confinement, despite its classification as torture, reveals it as a deliberate tool of control and retaliation, not safety. This shared experience of torture reinforces the fundamental unity of the struggle against all forms of carceral violence.

Tearing Us Apart: The Devastating Human Toll

Beyond the walls and wires, the carceral system's deepest scars are left on our families and communities. Mass incarceration disproportionately devastates Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities, ripping apart neighborhoods and destroying futures. The statistics are gut-wrenching:

Black men are 6x more likely to be incarcerated than white men, and Latinx individuals are 2.5 times more likely, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

A staggering 45% of Americans report an immediate family member has been incarcerated, rising to 63% for Black families and 48% for Hispanic families.

This aren’t just numbers; it's generations of lost wealth, deep emotional trauma, and endless family separation.

Urgent Imperatives in Unprecedented Times

We are currently living in unparalleled circumstances, where authoritarianism and fascism have taken hold of our country, and human rights are in jeopardy. ICE raids are tearing families apart more and more frequently. And the "prison-to-ICE pipeline" ensures this pain continues, with Black people accounting for over 20% of those deported on criminal grounds, despite being only 7% of non-citizens.

This system, in both its criminal and immigration forms, is a deliberate mechanism of racial oppression, designed to control and exploit, to reproduce inequality, and to break our collective spirit. It functions as a "system of racialized social management," and it targets those made most vulnerable by colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, and “othering” by leaders and the media. Our liberation demands its abolition. Fighting one without fighting the other is an incomplete battle against a deeply interconnected apparatus of dehumanization and exploitation.

The evidence is overwhelming: mass incarceration and immigration detention are two interconnected facets of the same oppressive system. The same corporations that profit from caging immigrants also profit from caging our currently incarcerated communities. The same politicians who campaign on “tough on crime” rhetoric also promise to crack down on immigration. Their shared historical roots in the legacy of slavery, their hunger for pervasive corporate profiteering, the strikingly similar inhumane conditions they inflict, and their disproportionate impact on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities—all point to a singular, unified struggle. Yet too often, the movements fighting these injustices operate in parallel rather than in partnership.

It’s time to change that.

Our Movements Must Unite

Too often, prison abolition and immigration justice are treated as distinct movements. We build campaigns in parallel silos, fundraise in separate spheres, and target different lawmakers. Meanwhile, the system we are fighting continues to evolve; interlocking, adapting, and growing stronger through our division.

But what if we joined forces?

What if we united the power of the immigrant justice movement with the legacy of slavery abolition and the reach of criminal justice reform? What if we stood together—undocumented and formerly incarcerated, abolitionists and border organizers—to demand an end to all forms of carceral violence and slavery?

This would be more than a strategic alliance.

It would be a revolutionary act.

Our collective power is immense. When we recognize that the border wall is the prison wall, when we understand that the fight for liberation is indivisible, our voices become a roar. We must demand nothing less than abolition – the dismantling of all systems that profit from human suffering and control. This means a fundamental shift of resources from carceral control to community investment, addressing root causes rather than merely symptoms. Break down the silos. Build bridges of solidarity. Rise as one. Our shared struggle demands a united front. The future of liberation depends on it.

The Power of Unified Resistance

What happens when these movements recognize our shared struggle and organize accordingly? The result could be revolutionarily transformative.

First, it would expose the corporate interests that profit from both systems. When advocates target CoreCivic or GEO Group, they could address the full scope of these companies’ harm rather than focusing on just one piece. Divestment campaigns could pull public funds from all forms of private detention. Procurement policies could ensure government contracts don’t support any form of exploitative detention labor.

Second, unified organizing could build more powerful coalitions. Virginia’s recent progress on criminal justice reform—from marijuana decriminalization to sentencing changes—shows there’s growing recognition that mass incarceration harms communities. But these conversations have largely excluded immigration detention, even though the same communities in places like Prince William County, Loudoun, and Fairfax are affected by both systems. Formerly incarcerated individuals and their families could stand with immigrant communities facing detention. Immigrant rights advocates could support campaigns for prison reform. Faith communities, labor unions, and civil rights organizations could see these as connected fights for human dignity rather than separate issues competing for attention.

Third, it would strengthen policy advocacy. Legislation addressing detention labor exploitation could cover all detention settings, not just prisons or immigration facilities. Corporate accountability measures could target the full range of detention profiteering. Reforms to sentencing, bail, and detention practices could address how both systems trap people in cycles of captivity.

A Framework for Liberation:

The most powerful framework for this unified work is the recognition that both systems represent forms of modern slavery. This isn’t hyperbole—it’s analysis rooted in the lived experiences of millions of people who have been caged, exploited, and commodified by these industries.

Slavery was never truly abolished in America; it was transformed. The convict leasing system that emerged after the Civil War evolved into today’s prison-industrial complex. Immigration enforcement has always served to create pools of exploitable labor while maintaining racial hierarchies. Both systems rely on dehumanization, family separation, and the threat of violence to extract profit and maintain control.

Understanding these systems as modern slavery creates space for broader coalitions rooted in shared values of human dignity and freedom. It connects domestic struggles to international human rights frameworks. It honors the leadership of those most directly impacted while inviting others into solidarity.

The Virginia Opportunity

Virginia presents a unique opportunity for this unified approach. The Commonwealth has made meaningful strides on criminal justice reform in recent years, signaling legislative openness to addressing systemic problems with detention and incarceration. Yet immigration detention remains largely outside these reform conversations, despite operating in the same communities and often the same facilities.

The state’s immigrant advocacy infrastructure is particularly strong in Northern Virginia, where organizations like CASA and LaColectiVA have built powerful membership bases. These same areas are home to formerly incarcerated individuals and families navigating reentry challenges. The geographic and demographic overlap creates natural opportunities for coalition-building across movements that have traditionally operated separately.

State-level detention labor legislation in Virginia could serve as a model for other states while creating immediate improvements for thousands of people currently detained in both systems. Whether through minimum wage requirements, transparency mandates, or procurement policies that reject goods produced through exploitative detention labor,

Virginia lawmakers have the power to challenge the corporate interests that profit from human captivity.

This transformation won’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen without intentional relationship-building between movements that have often operated separately. In Virginia, this work is already beginning through connections between immigrant rights organizations and criminal justice advocates. It requires:

• Shared political education that helps advocates understand these systemic connections beyond surface-level similarities. Study groups, workshops, and storytelling sessions can build shared analysis.

• Cross-movement solidarity that shows up concretely—immigration advocates joining prison justice actions, formerly incarcerated leaders speaking at immigrant rights rallies, organizations endorsing each other’s campaigns.

• Policy coordination that identifies legislative and campaign opportunities affecting both systems, from corporate accountability measures to detention labor reform to community investment initiatives.

• Centering impacted voices by ensuring that formerly incarcerated individuals, currently detained people, immigrants, and their families lead this work rather than having it done on their behalf.

  
  

The Time Is Now

We are living in unprecedented times--we cannot ignore the urgency of this moment. Trump and his allies are escalating a full-scale assault on immigrant communities—threatening mass raids, tearing families apart, dismantling asylum protections, and trampling on basic human rights. At the same time, they are rolling back criminal justice reforms, pushing harsher sentencing, and expanding the prison system. These attacks are not abstract policy debates—they endanger our families, our friends, and our neighbors. The stakes could not be higher: if these authoritarian agendas succeed, millions more will be torn from their communities, locked in cages, and denied their dignity. We cannot wait—our collective future depends on action now.

But this moment also holds unprecedented possibility. Growing awareness of systemic racism has created openings for deeper conversations about all forms of state violence. Economic inequality has more people questioning who benefits from current systems. Climate change and global instability are forcing recognition that human migration is a reality requiring humane responses rather than militarized enforcement.

The movements for prison abolition and immigrant justice have developed sophisticated analyses, powerful organizing strategies, and inspiring visions of alternatives rooted in community care rather than punishment and detention. Bringing these movements together doesn’t mean abandoning their distinct focuses—it means recognizing their shared power to transform the systems that cage our communities.

The corporations profiting from human captivity understand that their interests are connected. The politicians maintaining these systems coordinate their messaging and policies. The communities most harmed by these systems increasingly see their struggles as linked.

It’s time for the movements fighting for justice to recognize these connections too. When we break the chains that bind our immigrant neighbors, we weaken the same system that cages formerly incarcerated community members. When we challenge the corporate interests that profit from detention, we strike at the heart of modern slavery in all its forms.

The bridge between these movements isn’t just strategic—it’s essential. Our liberation is bound together, and our organizing must be too.

Our Power, Unleashed: Uniting Immigration Justice and Slavery Abolition

The strategic imperative for uniting prison abolition and immigration justice movements is not just clear; it is our only path to liberation. The system thrives on our division, adapting and growing stronger while we fight in separate silos. This isn't just about strategy; it's a revolutionary act to recognize that the fight for liberation is indivisible. The same forces criminalize poverty, Blackness, and migration. The border wall is the prison wall.

This call for unity isn't just aspirational; it's already happening, showing us the path forward. Organizations like the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and Freedom for Immigrants (FFI) are already building bridges, working at the critical intersection of these struggles. FFI, for example, is an abolitionist organization envisioning a world free from ALL cages, explicitly tackling mass incarceration, immigration enforcement, and the systemic deprivation of autonomy for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. Their "Project Keep Away" directly intercepts the "prison-to-ICE pipeline," preventing devastating transfers and double punishment.

These aren't just isolated efforts; they are blueprints for our collective liberation, centered on the leadership of directly impacted people. Their victories are our victories; their solidarity lights the way.

Abolition isn't just about tearing down; it's about radically building up. It's about compassion, responsible investment, and genuine public safety. It is about creating systems of care, abundance, and interdependence—where our communities flourish, not suffer.

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