Inmate claims U.S. prison labor mirrors forced-work tariffs criticized by Trump

In a recent essay, Jeremy Busby, a writer and activist incarcerated in Texas for murder, denounced compulsory prison labor as a form of literal slavery that benefits large corporations. He described guards using violence against inmates who refuse tasks such as mowing grass, and recounted historical punishments like flogging for work refusals. Busby highlighted that Texas prison enterprises earned $58 million from industrial goods and $51 million from agricultural output in 2022, profits that flow to private firms.

He argued that the Trump administration’s tariffs aimed at countries tolerating forced labor are hypocritical, suggesting other nations could just as easily impose tariffs on the U.S. Economists Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute and Robert Shapiro, former Clinton adviser, were quoted warning that the tariffs create economic uncertainty and contradict the administration’s small-government rhetoric. The piece frames the debate over forced labor as both a domestic human-rights issue and a flawed trade policy.