Louise Hall
Fri, 20 November 2020
An El Paso County detention inmate pushes a trolley while helping to move bodies to refrigerated trailers outside the Medical Examiner’s Office in El Paso, Texas (REUTERS)
Prison inmates in Texas are being paid two dollars an hour to move coronavirus bodies in Texas, reports have said.
Nine inmates are working to move the bodies of coronavirus victims at the medical examiner's office, Chris Acosta, public affairs director at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office told CNN.
The inmates recruited to do the work are said to be "low-level offenders", are provided full personal protective equipment (PPE) to work in, and are being paid two dollars an hour, reports said.
"The work is 100 per cent voluntary," Ms Acosta told CBS News. "It's great that these individuals are stepping up and volunteering to assist a community in dire need of help right now."
Refrigerated trucks for the bodies of victims were set up in the area as Texas continues to see a spike in cases and deaths, which has led to overcrowding in local morgues.
Prison labour is common practice across the US, but activists have questioned the ethics of allowing inmates to complete such “risky” work for such low wages.
"We think it's OK to put [inmates] in these risky situations, while at the same time denying them access to testing and medical care and free phone calls with their families," Krish Gundu, the co-founder and executive director of the Texas Jail Project, told KGTV.
"Is this what you would pay an essential worker who would be doing the job if you didn't have an inmate to do the job, right?" Ms Gundu said. "I mean, why the difference?"
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists posted on Twitter: “They've been doing this tough work since Monday, before El Paso increased to 10 mobile morgues. I cry for El Paso.”
The average pay for inmates across the US varies from $0.14 an hour to $1.41 an hour depending on the work, according to the prison policy initiative.
📍NEW: Chilling video of El Paso jail inmates hired to move bodies of #COVID19 deceased patients into mobile overflow morgues. Inmates wear full PPEs & paid $2/hour. They’ve been doing this tough work since Monday, before El Paso increased to 10 mobile morgues. I cry for El Paso. pic.twitter.com/KgQBpzD1mZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 15, 2020
The inmates have been working at the medical examiner's office for a week now, Ms Acosta told CNN.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniegon told an affiliate of the broadcaster that over 100 bodies are being housed in the permanent morgue and mobile morgues at the medical examiner’s office.
Ms Acosta stipulated to media outlets that the county has requested help from the National Guard to move the bodies and If that happens the inmates will stop providing assistance.
The broadcaster reported that the inmates are also being housed together throughout the duration of the work and for two weeks after to prevent the spread of the virus in the prison.
Texas surpassed 20,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths on Monday, recording the second-highest death count overall in the US behind New York, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University.
El Paso has become one of the hardest-hit areas in the state with the county having surpassed 70,000 coronavirus cases, leading to the deaths of 867 people.
Prison inmates in Texas are being paid two dollars an hour to move coronavirus bodies in Texas, reports have said.
Nine inmates are working to move the bodies of coronavirus victims at the medical examiner's office, Chris Acosta, public affairs director at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office told CNN.
The inmates recruited to do the work are said to be "low-level offenders", are provided full personal protective equipment (PPE) to work in, and are being paid two dollars an hour, reports said.
"The work is 100 per cent voluntary," Ms Acosta told CBS News. "It's great that these individuals are stepping up and volunteering to assist a community in dire need of help right now."
Refrigerated trucks for the bodies of victims were set up in the area as Texas continues to see a spike in cases and deaths, which has led to overcrowding in local morgues.
Prison labour is common practice across the US, but activists have questioned the ethics of allowing inmates to complete such “risky” work for such low wages.
"We think it's OK to put [inmates] in these risky situations, while at the same time denying them access to testing and medical care and free phone calls with their families," Krish Gundu, the co-founder and executive director of the Texas Jail Project, told KGTV.
"Is this what you would pay an essential worker who would be doing the job if you didn't have an inmate to do the job, right?" Ms Gundu said. "I mean, why the difference?"
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists posted on Twitter: “They've been doing this tough work since Monday, before El Paso increased to 10 mobile morgues. I cry for El Paso.”
The average pay for inmates across the US varies from $0.14 an hour to $1.41 an hour depending on the work, according to the prison policy initiative.
📍NEW: Chilling video of El Paso jail inmates hired to move bodies of #COVID19 deceased patients into mobile overflow morgues. Inmates wear full PPEs & paid $2/hour. They’ve been doing this tough work since Monday, before El Paso increased to 10 mobile morgues. I cry for El Paso. pic.twitter.com/KgQBpzD1mZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 15, 2020
The inmates have been working at the medical examiner's office for a week now, Ms Acosta told CNN.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniegon told an affiliate of the broadcaster that over 100 bodies are being housed in the permanent morgue and mobile morgues at the medical examiner’s office.
Ms Acosta stipulated to media outlets that the county has requested help from the National Guard to move the bodies and If that happens the inmates will stop providing assistance.
The broadcaster reported that the inmates are also being housed together throughout the duration of the work and for two weeks after to prevent the spread of the virus in the prison.
Texas surpassed 20,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths on Monday, recording the second-highest death count overall in the US behind New York, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University.
El Paso has become one of the hardest-hit areas in the state with the county having surpassed 70,000 coronavirus cases, leading to the deaths of 867 people.
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