A federal grand jury in the U.S. has indicted dozens of people following an investigation into human trafficking and visa fraud
U.S. authorities break up a trafficking network that exploited and abused foreign farm workers, a new report from Migrant Justice Institute looks at migrant workers’ access to justice for wage theft, and the U.S. moves a step closer to banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region.
For years, a transnational labour trafficking network brought dozens of individuals from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to the United States under the guise of agricultural work, only to exploit them and subject them to brutal conditions. The operation, which has come to light thanks to a newly unsealed indictment, highlights the ways in which criminal networks can manipulate legal work visa programs.
As reported by Insight Crime last week, prosecutors say that the victims had their passports and visas withheld, faced beatings and threats of violence and deportation at gunpoint, and were forced to work for little or no pay in agricultural fields in Georgia, Florida and Texas while living in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Last month, 24 people were indicted in Georgia on dozens of criminal counts, including forced labour.
After entering into contracting agreements with local farmers to find and recruit foreign workers, the network allegedly filed thousands of false petitions to the U.S. government using fake signatures and fraudulent documents, requesting that more than 71,000 workers be given entry to the United States to work on agricultural farms under the H-2A work visa program, between 2015 and 2021.
Under that program, U.S. employers are allowed to bring foreign nationals into the country to take up temporary agricultural jobs as long as they meet “specific regulatory requirements”, including that such hiring “will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers”, among others.
In some cases, prosecutors said the victims were forced to harvest onions with their bare hands, earning just 20 cents for every bucket collected. Some were even bought and sold within the network, with one group of 30 labourers sold for more than US$ 21,000, according to the indictment. In total, the network is alleged to have earned more than US$ 200 million in illegal profits through the scheme, which were hidden through cash purchases of land, homes and vehicles, and also funneled through casinos, disguised as winnings.
The United States’ temporary work visa program has long faced heavy scrutiny, and this latest indictment underscores just how vulnerable temporary migrant workers are to human trafficking networks. The H-2A visa program creates a severe power imbalance – the system almost always ties workers to their specific employer, which means their legal status depends on maintaining the job they were contracted to do. As such, workers are hesitant to speak out about deplorable working conditions due to fear of losing their employment and facing deportation.
Under the program, employers cannot legally charge workers recruitment fees and are required to provide safe housing and transportation. However, migrant workers often have enormous debts forced upon them for housing, transportation and recruitment – known as “debt bondage” – all of which are illegal despite being a “normalized practice” within the system.
“The American dream is a powerful attraction for destitute and desperate people across the globe, and where there is need there is greed from those who will attempt to exploit these willing workers for their own obscene profits,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia David Estes, in a Justice Department press release.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Last Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would ban imports from China's Xinjiang region unless corporations can provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the products were not made using forced labour. The bill must now pass the Senate and be signed by U.S. President Joe Biden for it to take effect.
A new report from the Migrant Justice Institute, in partnership with The Solidarity Center and ILAW Network, identifies initiatives from around the world that seek to disrupt employer expectations of impunity and enable migrant workers to bring claims and obtain redress for wage theft. In the recording of the global launch event, report authors and other global experts discuss what is working and why, and which reform targets will have the greatest impact on making government wage remediation systems work in every region.
IOM’s newest report explores how low-wage international labour migration in Asia has changed over the past two decades, identifies the drivers behind these changes, and analyzes how risks and vulnerabilities faced by migrants have evolved in parallel. Based on current economic, social, political and technological trends, it also looks at how migration dynamics in the region may evolve over the coming years and decades, and considers the steps needed to maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of this critical but often dangerous journey.
Dozens of Rohingya refugees in the UK and U.S. have sued Facebook, accusing the social media giant of allowing hate speech against them to spread. They are claiming more than US$ 150bn in compensation, saying that Facebook’s platforms promoted violence against the persecuted minority.
Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Burkina Faso, to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The signing of the agreement is considered a major step forward in the country’s renewed determination to tackle issues of human trafficking with the active involvement of neighboring states.
The coordinator for religious sisters network Talitha Kum in Asia has spoken to Vatican Radio about the need for greater collaboration between countries of origin and destination in addressing the many issues that must be advocated for in order to give justice and protection to the millions of trafficking victims and survivors.
Bangladeshi brokers involved in the smuggling of unaccompanied minors from Bangladesh to Italy and other European countries should be identified immediately and prosecuted, leading migration experts have said. They suggest Bangladesh bolster international collaboration and partnership among the states involved, in order to break transnational smuggling rackets.
Anti-Trafficking Review calls for papers for a Special Issue on the theme of “Home and Homelessness", which will aim to examine the link between migration, exploitation and trafficking, on the one hand, and housing or homelessness on the other.
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is looking for a Programme Officer (Research), who is passionate about the human rights of women migrant workers and has previously carried out research on different aspects of labour migration, to join its team in Bangkok.
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