While on one hand the federal government goes after companies employing undocumented immigrants, it doesn’t have a problem using some of these same people to fill jobs in its detention centers.

As many as 60,000 people being held at such centers were put to work last year, with many being paid only $1 a day. The rate is based on federal law adopted in 1950 that Congress has refused to update. At some local jails, workers are compensated merely with junk food, according to Ian Urbina of The New York Times.

These detainees perform a wide variety of tasks at the detention facilities, from preparing and serving food to cleaning floors. Correction officials claim the work is voluntary. However, many have complained that they were coerced into working during their detentions.

Much of the work is done to pad the bank accounts of private industry