Atlanta, April 25 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Georgia, immigrants imprisoned at a for-profit detention center have filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming they were forced to work for eight dollars a day -- or less -- in violation of U.S. labor law. 

The suit alleges that prisoners at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia who refuse to join so-called “voluntary” work programs face retaliation by guards, including threats of criminal prosecution. 

One former prisoner says he worked eight-hour shifts in the prison’s kitchen for up to seven days per week, earning just four dollars per day; he says when he refused to work he was put in solitary confinement for 10 days. 

The prison is operated by CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America.