Support NeoGAF

[Beefy]

A Massachusetts county sheriff has proposed sending prison inmates from around the United States to build the proposed wall along the Mexican border that is one of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's most prominent campaign promises.

"I can think of no other project that would have such a positive impact on our inmates and our country than building this wall," Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said at his swearing-in ceremony for a fourth term in office late Wednesday.

"Aside from learning and perfecting construction skills, the symbolism of these inmates building a wall to prevent crime in communities around the country, and to preserve jobs and work opportunities for them and other Americans upon release, can be very powerful," he said.

Hodgson, who like Trump is a Republican, said that inmates from around the country could work together to build the proposed wall, which Trump describes as a powerful deterrent to illegal immigration.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

 

[Lord Frieza]

They going to build it with the power of collective imagination? Because no one is going to pay for that shit.

 

[Guevara]

"I can think of no other project that would have such a positive impact on our inmates and our country than building this wall... Aside from learning and perfecting construction skills, the symbolism of these inmates building a wall to prevent crime in communities around the country, and to preserve jobs and work opportunities for them and other Americans upon release, can be very powerful,"​

heartwarming...

 

[Derwind]

They going to build it with the power of collective imagination? Because no one is going to pay for that shit.

Don't worry, any worker that dies of exhaustion or hunger will be built into the wall itself.

*insert evil laugh*

 

[Aegus]

Don't worry, any worker that dies of exhaustion or hunger will be built into the wall itself.

*insert evil laugh*

I believe that also gives the wall special magic protection.

 

[kmax]

it's uncanny

 

[kess]

Why does it have to be the fucking wall

Can't you build a nice kiddie park, asshole?

 

[Generalpsyduck]

Yay slavery is back!
/s

 

[Perfect Blue]

Has Trump talked about the wall recently? It seems to have disappeared after the primaries.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

I didn't even have to open this thread before I knew it was Hodgson, this guy wants to be like Joe Arpaio so bad.

 

[Darth Ghandi]

Well since the US has a large prison population and aren't gonna fund tat wall perhaps the will make inmates stand on the boarder with linked arms?
And if there aren't enough i'm sure emperor trump will find a way to send more people to jail.

 

[Coriolanus]

Yay slavery is back!
/s

"is back" implies that it went away at some point.

 

[CrazyDude]

Yay slavery is back!
/s

13th amendment did not ban slave labor for prisoners.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Does he think we built stuff by hand and just stacking up the bricks? I don't think you can just let random inmates do this work anymore...

Also, preserve jobs by letting construction be done for free by prisoners. /s

 

[Gattsu25]

Yay slavery is back!
/s

The 13 amendment has a specific exception for prisoners. They can legally still perform slave labor.

Relevant: https://youtu.be/V66F3WU2CKk

 

[acheron_xl]

And when they're done with the wall, we can get 'em to work on building some of Ben Carson's grain silo pyramids.

 

[Hollycat]

They going to build it with the power of collective imagination? Because no one is going to pay for that shit.

Imagination and slave labor

 

[M3d10n]

Does he think we built stuff by hand and just stacking up the bricks? I don't think you can just let random inmates do this work anymore...

Also, preserve jobs by letting construction be done for free by prisoners. /s

Of course, they're just inmates who gave up on their rights after all. Here's an artistic impression of the wall:

 

[Corronchilejano]

Why does it have to be the fucking wall

Can't you build a nice kiddie park, asshole?

This would actually be a good idea.

 

[bjork]

Only if they get to wall this dude up inside it with the first wheelbarrow of bricks

 

[Horns]

You can email the sheriff directly at [email protected] or [email protected] if you want to let him know how you feel about his comments.

 

[zethren]

Fuck off with your slavery.

 

[shnurgleton]

"When Rhode Island sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people..."

 

[Kurdel]

"I can think of no other project that would have such a positive impact on our inmates and our country than building this wall," Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson

This has the be one of the shameful quotes in the recent memory.

 

[MrChocolate]

Yay slavery is back!
/s

Slavery? Jesus christ, some of you people...

--

OT: Sheriff thinks that walls are built out of thin air? Who's going to provide all the tools, raw materials and basically, everything other than human resources? Mexico?

 

[Miles Quaritch]

They going to build it with the power of collective imagination? Because no one is going to pay for that shit.

Using inmates means virtually no labour costs, which would be the most significant cost of building the wall in the first place.

Add in how you can treat prisoners and how few protections they seem to have in the US, you have a massive slave labour pool of people.

It'll never happen, but that's the thinking. It's the same idea we see in Shawshank Redemption.

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

He wants to bring convicts within a stones throw of a national border?

Whats to stop them from overpowering the guards and just making a run for it?

Not to mention how will this wall do anything he claims?

And who's going to pay to transport/house/feed/train/etc those inmates, or the wall itself?

 

[Kurdel]

Slavery? Jesus christ, some of you people...

How much do you think prison labour wage compares to a normal constuction workers wage? Just curious.

Whats to stop them from overpowering the guards and just making a run for it?

Ah yes. the classic "forced labour on border wall paradox", what a time to be alive!

 

[Hollycat]

Slavery? Jesus christ, some of you people...

--

OT: Sheriff thinks that walls are built out of thin air? Who's going to provide all the tools, raw materials and basically, everything other than human resources? Mexico?

It kind of is slavery in some ways. people forced against their will to do hard labor for almost literally nothing while being fed moldy scraps in many cases, and punished if they don't obey, sometimes with torture (solitary confinement).

For private prisons prisoners are seen as nothing more than economic assets and the labor they force could be given to other people.

 

[Sesha]

Ah, nothing like good, old-fashioned slavery.

 

[Coriolanus]

Slavery? Jesus christ, some of you people...

the 13th ammendment allows literally that, slavery as punishment for a crime.

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

 

[Lord Frieza]

Using inmates means virtually no labour costs, which would be the most significant cost of building the wall in the first place.

Add in how you can treat prisoners and how few protections they seem to have in the US, you have a massive slave labour pool of people.

It'll never happen, but that's the thinking. It's the same idea we see in Shawshank Redemption.

Yeah, but even if that's the most significant cost, you still have to factor in the cost of materials and the absolutely insane amount of time such a project as Trump outlined it would take. Even eliminating the labor cost, we're still talking about a very expensive project.

 

[Abstrusity]

Slavery? Jesus christ, some of you people...

--

OT: Sheriff thinks that walls are built out of thin air? Who's going to provide all the tools, raw materials and basically, everything other than human resources? Mexico?

It's the closest approximation to slavery. Inmates get paid pennies -- literally pennies -- with which they can and in some places, must, purchase food and hygiene stuff. If you do not work, you are threatened with being kept in prison for longer, being banned from making phone calls at all, being pressured by guards and sometimes other inmates until you fall in line.

The modern American inmate IS worse off than the worst of the gilded age.

They are EFFECTIVELY slaves and have no real choice in the matter.

 

[Amory]

This guy is still talking about a wall?

Even Trump has moved on from that BS

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Yeah, but even if that's the most significant cost, you still have to factor in the cost of materials and the absolutely insane amount of time such a project as Trump outlined it would take. Even eliminating the labor cost, we're still talking about a very expensive project.

That's why it'll probably never happen. The materials alone will cost into the billions, but if they were to ever push ahead, it'll be with inmates and the people who support the wall will cheer.

They'd probably start to give out even harsher sentences for small crimes just to increase the pool of workers.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

Mass is so far away from Mexico though. Maybe it's really a wall at the Canadian border. They could keep costs of materials down by using ice.

 

[Usobuko]

This is 100 times more disgusting when you know how shitty the prison system in place are for.

 

[MrChocolate]

How much do you think prison labour wage compares to a normal constuction workers wage? Just curious.



Ah yes. the classic "forced labour on border wall paradox", what a time to be alive!

I know it's pennies. It's not a living wage, is just a simbolic payment.

It kind of is slavery in some ways. people forced against their will to do hard labor for almost literally nothing while being fed moldy scraps in many cases, and punished if they don't obey, sometimes with torture (solitary confinement).

For private prisons prisoners are seen as nothing more than economic assets and the labor they force could be given to other people.

the 13th ammendment allows literally that, slavery as punishment for a crime.

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

It's the closest approximation to slavery. Inmates get paid pennies -- literally pennies -- with which they can and in some places, must, purchase food and hygiene stuff. If you do not work, you are threatened with being kept in prison for longer, being banned from making phone calls at all, being pressured by guards and sometimes other inmates until you fall in line.

The modern American inmate IS worse off than the worst of the gilded age.

They are EFFECTIVELY slaves and have no real choice in the matter.

Sorry but except certain minor crimes, those guys must repay somehow to society. And no, serving time in prison does not count. They keep being a burden to the taxpayer.

I'm not saying that they actually should buy the wall. What I mean, is they should be building houses for poor people, working on highways and so on.

Otherwise, they are just a burden.

 

[kess]

This guy is still talking about a wall?

Even Trump has moved on from that BS

He's from Massachusetts so he's probably related to Captain Ahab or something

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

I know it's pennies. It's not a living wage, is just a simbolic payment.







Sorry but except certain minor crimes, those guys must repay somehow to society. And no, serving time in prison does not count. They keep being a burden to the taxpayer.

I'm not saying that they actually should buy the wall. What I mean, is they should be building houses for poor people, working on highways and so on.

Otherwise, they are just a burden.

You understand that the prison system is meant to rehabilitate people who are deemed fit to return to society, not be a way to get extremely cheap labor for the government to save money.

Also considering our prison system is filled with people who committed "minor crimes", and they are most likely the least violent, they will be the ones allowed to leave prison to participate in the building of the wall.

You don't let people out to do work who are violent or committed the serious crimes.

 

[Killthee]

Has Trump talked about the wall recently? It seems to have disappeared after the primaries.

Yeah 5 days ago at his NYE party he said "We will build the wall."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0D8hAPtAM

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Isnt this like..... slavery? Wtf!?

 

[Catdaddy]

Makes escaping to Mexico so much easier... Andy Dufresne would have been jealous - he had to actually escape and get down to Mexico..

 

[Frozenprince]

Bristol county is effectively just rich white folks so. Not surprising.

 

[BadHand]

To build Trump's giant monument to division and racism is probably not the best way to rehabilitate prisoners.

 

[Emerson]

Isnt this like..... slavery? Wtf!?

As long as they would be paid whatever minimal pay they are legally entitled to for prison work, I don't see how.

Don't get me wrong, the wall is a fucking stupid idea and shouldn't, probably won't, be done. But I don't see how paying prisoners ten cents an hour or whatever to build a wall is any different than picking up litter or making license plates.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

It sounds like a good idea to put inmates so close to the border, I bet not one of them runs to Mexico

 

[____]

Fuck you, Massachusetts sheriff.

Fuck you.

 

[Netherscourge]

So, in addition to an insanely expensive wall that the US will ultimately pay for, we're going to spend more money to ship prisoners to the border states and create housing for them while they unceremoniously build a wall at gunpoint.

Okeedokee.

 

[Tugatrix]

A fresh batch of slaves