To put a finer point on it, the US has always used the Prison system as legal slavery. ☝🏼🤮🤕
To expound, the 13th Amendment explicitly abolished slavery nationwide... except as a punishment for a crime. It states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the U.S., "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." (we all know how infallible the Justice® system is, ofc) This means that any state is legally allowed to compel incarcerated people to work.
For generations now, our incarcerated people've generally been required to work for ~12¢ - 40¢ per hour, without standard federal workplace protections. (ya know, like a minimum wage or the right to unionize) 🤬😢