Detainees talk on telephones at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto on Aug. 28, 2019. Photo by Chris Carlson, AP PhotoOne dollar a day. That’s how much immigrant detainees in GEO Group-run ICE facilities in Kern County earn scrubbing bathrooms and cutting hair, reports CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang. Detainees at the Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex ICE facilities told Kuang they started their second labor and hunger strike in two years to protest poor working and living conditions. The strike comes as Californians are re-evaluating the role of prisoners and detainees in society: whether state prisoners should be forced to work, whether immigrant detainees are subject to workplace safety protections, and how much they should be paid. Ever Oropeza-Paz, who has been detained at the Golden State Annex ICE detention facility for nearly two years, said he spent several months working as an aide for an inmate with a mental health condition. Oropeza-Paz said he was paid $1 a day to assist his dormmate with basic tasks such as buying items in the commissary, using a tablet to communicate, and teaching him how to shower. “People are forced to work,” said Oropeza-Paz, who does not currently have a job in the facility. “They do it just to have the funds to make a quick call to their relatives.”According to the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, the cost of phone calls charged by independent phone contractors at Golden State Annex is 7 cents a minute for domestic calls and 35 cents a minute for international calls. Capital & Main reported earlier this month how a pandemic-era program that allowed detained immigrants free phone calls has recently ended. Phone charges may vary by facility, some of which impose additional burdens, such as requiring a $5 minimum deposit on a person’s phone account. But the bottom line is that scrubbing toilets for an entire day might earn you a 2-minute phone call overseas or a 14-minute domestic call. The GEO Group, the private for-profit company that runs federal immigration detention centers in California and elsewhere, reported $2.4 billion in revenues last year. Read more in Jeanne’s latest story.DON’T MISSSome stories may require a subscription to read.Costly cash. Unbanked and underbanked Californians are being locked out of the economy writes California Voices Intern Kate McQuarrie. Nearly 1 in 5 Californians don’t have bank accounts and must often use costlier methods to access their money.Workforce equity. A new report examines the effort to hire and retain Black workers at the Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works. The Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity at Work found an 80% job retention rate for Black workers who accepted job offers. CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde wrote about the effort in March and found it was falling far short of its goal to hire 200 Black workers.Union uncertainty. A judge has halted a union effort at the Wonderful Company, throwing into question a new state law designed to make it easier for agricultural workers to organize. Wonderful Company sells natural products like tangerines, bottled water, fruit juices, and nutsDigital deportation. A newly-released report, “Automating Deportation,” produced by Phoenix-based nonprofit Mijente, details how the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly using AI tools to make immigration decisions, like designating individuals as “public safety threats” for detention and deportation.Graffiti investigation. A piece of antisemitic graffiti was found in midtown Sacramento last Sunday and city leaders are now investigating the writing, which they called a “direct threat.”Farmworker housing. The Mercury News examined new proposed state legislation that could make it easier to build housing for farmworkers, who often live in overcrowded and unsafe conditions.Spending scandal. San Francisco set aside $120 million to help Black residents after the 2020 police murder of George Floyd. Some of the money has gone to $700,000 black-tie gala events, a trip to Martha’s Vineyard and a bulk order of a department director’s children’s book, the San Francisco Standard reports. Sustainable steps. The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute released a toolkit for small business owners in California to help them adopt environmentally sustainable practices.Thanks for following our work on the California Divide team. While you’re here, please tell us what kinds of stories you’d love to read. Email us at inequalityinsights@calmatters.org.Thanks for reading,Wendy and The California Divide TeamFirst published by CalMatters.