'Modern slavery': American farmers smuggled immigrants into the United States and forced them to work

Georgia has indicted two dozen people for smuggling Mexican and Central American immigrants into the United States and forcing them to live in camps and work on farms in the state in what authorities say was like "modern slavery." The publication told about this in more detail. NBC News.

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In the course of the long-term investigation, several federal agencies were involved to investigate the activities of a "transnational criminal organization" that was allegedly involved in human trafficking, visa fraud, forced labor, money laundering and other crimes that brought scammers more than $ 200 million.

The gang members have been accused of using and fraudulently under a federal farm worker visa program known as H-2A to transport immigrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and other countries to the United States.

At least two of these people died in working conditions, another was repeatedly raped, and others were kidnapped. They were subject to death threats, according to the indictment. Often, according to court documents, they were forced to work at gunpoint and paid as little as 20 cents for each bucket of onions they dug with their hands. Some illegal immigrants were sold to farms in other states.

The defendants have been charged and face life imprisonment.

The operation represents one of the largest human trafficking and visa fraud investigations in the country, according to the Justice Department.

This is the first model under the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to place more emphasis on employer responsibility, not just immigrants.

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In October, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mallorcas, issued an order directing the immigration authorities to stop massive raids on workplaces.

Mallorcas said the tactic sometimes resulted in the arrest of hundreds of illegal immigrants, but was not aimed at "exploiting employers."

This operation illustrates ICE's efforts to further focus on victim assistance and combatting employers who benefit from visa programs and foreign workers.

The goal is to work with immigrant communities and change the perception of ICE among groups that have historically been suspicious of law enforcement officials, officials said, designed to make immigrants or exploited workers feel comfortable and help with investigations.

“We want them to work with us to hold accountable employers who exploit this underserved population as a means to increase their profits,” one official said.

In that case, more than 100 workers were freed "from the shackles of modern slavery," David Estes, acting US attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said in a statement. He stressed that the operation "will bring to justice those who seek to chain them in the chains of slavery."

“The American Dream is a powerful attraction for disadvantaged and desperate people around the world. And where there is a need, there is the greed of those who will try to use these workers for their own profit,” Estes said.

The first of about two dozen named defendants and the person named after the "transnational criminal organization" described in the indictment is 70-year-old Maria Leticia Patricio of Nichols, Georgia. She was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and conspiracy to launder money.

Patricio pleaded not guilty and Juanita Halsey Bostic, a lawyer representing Patricio, declined to comment. Other defendants who were charged in court also pleaded not guilty.

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Three of the accused - Victoria Chavez Hernandez, Jose Carmen Duque and Rodolfo Martinez Maciel - are considered fugitives from justice and are wanted. They face charges ranging from conspiracy to commit fraud to forced labor.

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Barry Pascal, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia. "I'm sure we'll discover a lot more in the coming months."

The criminal enterprise was widespread and operated in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. The court documents indicate that the defendants threatened the victims with violence and deportation, charged them exorbitant fees that they could not afford for travel, housing and food, and took away travel and other identity documents to force them to work.

According to the indictment, for many years migrants were brought to the United States under false pretenses and forced to work on farms and live in unsanitary cramped conditions without regular access to food and water. Some were illegally forced to maintain lawns and work on construction sites and restaurant kitchens.

The indictment alleges, among other things, that the defendants spent their earnings lavishly on new cars and trucks, and lost millions of dollars at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, Florida.

The casino owners said they have been cooperating with federal authorities for over a year.

“The casino consistently files all required financial reports,” spokesman Gary Bitner confirmed. “This case was no exception.”

Pascal said his office continues to search for victims and urged anyone with information to contact the National Anti-Trafficking Hotline. In the meantime, the freed workers receive help from a group of victim service providers from both federal and non-governmental organizations, although it is unclear what the future holds.

An investigation by NBC News last year found that the expansion of the federal visa program for farm workers, known as the H-2A, made immigrants much more vulnerable to abuse.

Federal laws must provide decent working conditions, fair pay, and safe housing for guest workers who are tied to sponsoring employers and must return to their home countries after short-stay visas have expired.

But workers are often reluctant to oppose employers who are responsible for their housing, transportation, pay and ability to stay in the United States, workers' advocates lament. Most of the workers are in remote rural areas and do not speak English.

“Access to justice is virtually impossible for many of these workers,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.

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Costa said the allegations were "a testament to the extent of the violations of the law that occur in work visa programs." He noticed that employers have become very brave in a bad sense of the word, because they allow themselves such "while nobody sees."

Charles Cook, a longtime Georgia immigration attorney who has worked on H-2A cases and investigations, stressed that the raid and indictment are "unusual."

Although, he noted, there are many H-2A employers who follow the code and get it right, "there are many bad guys."

“I think this is a sign that the administration is taking seriously the issue of human trafficking and abuse of visa workers, and things that may not have been a priority under the previous administration,” Cook said.

“We can effectively protect the American labor market, American workplace conditions, and human dignity by focusing our efforts on unscrupulous employers,” Mayorkas said.

Costa summed up that this could be "a very big deal and a really positive step towards protecting workers themselves and fighting unscrupulous employers."

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