Foreign-Made Goods Flood U.S Federal Prisons  

Have you ever watched that recurring ABC evening news segment called Made in America? They highlight small businesses that provide lots of jobs and make competitively priced products designed to reduce our appetite for cheap foreign made goods.  Stirs my patriotic juices every time I see it and it makes me wonder what would happen to our economy if we all bought merchandise only made here in the United States.

Well, one of my friends has been thinking about this too.  Recently he has had a lot of time on his hands since he is serving an 18-month sentence in a federal prison. He did a stupid (non-violent) service for one of his associates and is now paying the price. After being on the inside for a while he thinks the Bureau of Prisons ought to take a page from the Buy American handbook too.

“You know how bored I am, so I read everything, even labels,” he wrote me recently.

Federal Prison Uniforms Are Made in Sri Lanka – Why? – Photo by Dimond

“When I noticed that the pillows and mattresses were foreign made, I decided to start checking the labels on everything from the packaged food in the commissary and chow hall, to all of the daily products that are distributed inside of these walls,” he said. “I was amazed to discover just how many things were.”

To prove his point the last letter he sent included a group of labels he had torn from several prison-issued items. The label affixed to the pants and shirts each prisoner receives, he said, clearly shows they are made in Sri Lanka. The label from his 9 ½ sized prison boots included the words “made in China.” The label from inmates’ sweatshirts confirms they came from Honduras. The institution’s T-shirts and towels are manufactured in Bangladesh. Sheets and prison pillows are made in Pakistan. Soap and shaving creams, he said, come from Mexico.

Labels from Prison Sheets, Pillowsm Towels, T-Shirts and Boots – Photo by Dimond

To be clear, some of the labels carried the name of U.S. distribution companies meaning the foreign made goods filtered through American firms and, therefore, benefited American workers. Among the vendors I found on the labels: the Red Kap company of Nashville, Tennessee, the  R & R Textile Mills operating in Illinois, California and Delaware, the Jerzees brand out of Bowling Green, Kentucky and Charm-Tex of Brooklyn, New York.

But is there more the Bureau of Prisons can do to help fulfill the president’s pledge to “Make America Great Again” by easing reliance on foreign made goods and putting even more Americans to work?

Yes, my prison source says. “All of these items could have just as well been made in Unicor by inmates here, saving the government money while assuring that the money stayed inside the U.S. borders,” he wrote.

 

Red Dots Note Unicor Locations Nationwide – Prisoners Could Produce More, Cheaper Products

Unicor is a self-sustaining training program set up inside some fifty federal prisons across the country. At Unicor centers inmates get on-the-job training that teaches them to make a wide array of products. From mattresses, linens, towels, furniture, food service products, electronics, specialty signs and even eyewear. They are paid a nominal hourly amount, but they leave prison with a resume and an employable skill. Most of Unicor’s sales are to federal agencies looking to buy quality products at reduced prices.

So why doesn’t the Bureau of Prisons buy more from Unicor and less from foreign sources?

I contacted the Bureau of Prisons to ask about their purchasing policies. Does the BOP encourage federal penal institutions to buy American whenever possible?  Do their regulations allow prison personnel to buy directly from foreign companies? Does anyone check to see if child or human trafficking labor is involved in manufacturing the goods U.S. prisons buy?  I was instructed to e-mail in my list of questions but, unfortunately, I did not get a response by my deadline.

Made in America Means More Jobs in America

President Trump frequently mentions how movers and shakers from Silicon Valley to the auto industry are abandoning foreign factories and moving back to the U.S. He clearly wants American’s dollars to be spent on American made products. But I wonder if the word has been officially passed down to federal agencies to fully re-access their purchasing procedures and to Buy American as often as possible.

During this time when the I.R.S. pays out $20 million to private companies that collect less than $7 million in outstanding taxes, when the Defense Department earmarks nearly $24 million to fix the refrigerators on Air Force One, it sure would be nice to know that at least some federal agencies are looking at ways to economize. I, for one, would appreciate it very much.

###

4 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on February 19, 2018 at 9:58 am

    Linked In Connection Ralph Griffith writes:

    I spent 30 years inside and you are absolutely correct. The BOP has prison factories and yet everything inmates wear or use is foreign made. I can even tell you where they buy it. This may save a few bucks, but look at how many American contractors don’t hire or have to lay off because of this criminal federal agency trying to save money at the expense of the American worker-and I am not speaking of the inmate slave market the feds run,, I’m speaking of the regular hardworking never- been- in- trouble American.

  2. Diane Dimond on February 19, 2018 at 10:00 am

    Facebook Friend Daniel Simone writes:

    Until the late 1940’s, Americans consumed only products made in the U.S. and had no penchants for foreign goods. As the Baby Boomers became adults, they hosted an appetite for foreign-made products and food, hence the beginning of an avalanche of importation. In fact, if you watch a film made before the fifties, most likely you won’t see any foreign items–cars, clothing apparel, fashion, even wines. Everything you see was made in America. Another factor that spurned the desire for foreign goods, was and, still is, Americans’ blooming curiosity, which spawned immediately after World War II, to travel abroad and experience the European lifestyle. Thus, not before long America imported more than it exported, creating a mounting trade deficit. Prior to World War II, we Americans refused to consume anything from Central and South America because those areas were considered third-world countries. To overcome that stigma, a conglomerate of business organizations gave those regions of the globe a nickname, Latin America. But South America has nothing to do with Latin and its extinct populace. The term Latin America, however, lent a degree of prestige and eased the Americans’ unwillingness to purchase and consume items from that part of the continent. As a result of all of the above, we now have a flawed and deteriorating economy.

  3. Diane Dimond on February 19, 2018 at 10:01 am

    Facebook Friend Ronald Jeffries Tallman writes:

    Very good. Nearly everything new that touch I check the tag, bottom or bag it is in. The labor over there is “cheap” as some of the materials. Services are outsourced there for a dime on the dollar. All these electronics we buy seem really low priced.

    The prisons are so full; those resources could be kept right here.

  4. Diane Dimond on February 21, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    Albuquerque Journal Reader Gunhild Vetter writes:

    Dear Diane,
    Everything happens for a reason and your friend doing time in prison should look at it as an assignment from God. He could have an important role in changing how the prison systems operate.
    New Mexico has a Corrections Department that over sees the prisons in the state. I find it strange that they operate as though their purpose is to house and punish the inmates instead of getting them ready for the day they will be released back into society. This is a great opportunity to educate and train these troubled human beings so that they can become productive citizens when they are released.
    Encourage your friend to not give up on this mission he has found that could be revolutionary in how inmates will be treated in the future. God uses us all for his purpose and this might be his assignment.
    Chuck Colson went to prison over the Nixon mess, but while serving time he saw a need for inmates to keep connections with their families and is responsible for the nationwide prison ministry that has a big impact on the inmates and their families.

    Gunhild Vetter

Leave a Comment