Guest workers allege slavery locally
Published: Thursday, February 15, 2007 7:06 PM CST
http://www.sulphurdailynews.com/articles/2007/02/16/news/news.txt
Guest workers protest alleged mistreatment by their employer. Photos by Victoria Hartley
MARY ANN DUTTON, Staff Writer
In a press conference held in Sulphur on Thursday, the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity spokesman Saket Soni was the voice of 30 plus Mexican guest workers, all here in the U.S. legally, gathered beside him.
“Close to 100 Mexican gues workers have been trapped for months in Westlake after their employer illegally confiscated their passports,” Soni said. “These workers were recruited under false pretenses and transported to the U.S. where they have been subjected to humiliating conditions and treatment.
“Workers and advocates allege that the employer, a prominant business leader, has violated anti-slavery and human trafficking laws while leasing the workers to local businesses for profit.”
Soni said workers were defrauded by their employer who promised steady work and fair pay. Workers say the employer collected $400 for airfare from each of them, but after they paid the money were transported by vans to the U. S. Once they crossed the border, the drivers collected their passports. Despite numerous requests by the workers, the employer refuses to return their passports. Workers who have organized to demand their passports say they have faced retaliation and threats of deportation.
According to Soni the men were hired by a company under the name of Louisiana Labor, LLC. The workers say their employer is Matt Redd of Redd Properties.
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A Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's deputy talks with protest organizers outside of Redd Properties in Sulphur. Photos by Victoria Hartley [see original for image]
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Fernando Rivera said he was one of the first workers brought to the U. S. by Matt Redd. He has been in the Sulphur area for about five months.
“We get stopped by the police here and our asked for identification,” said Rivera. “We showed them the photocopy of our visa that our employer gave us, but they want the legal documents. They told me if they stop me a second time without my papers, they will deport me.”
The “papers” necessary to prove the men are here legally are their passports which were confiscated by the employer.
Rivera's mom has liver cancer and is going to have surgery. He wants to go to Mexico for the surgery so he can donate blood. Without his documents he is unable to travel.
Jose Juan Sanchez was told he would be working as a welder in the U. S., and the only cost that he would incur would be for passports. Instead, the company took away his visa and told him they had no work for him. Sanchez said the man spoke to the group, about 30, and told them that he had paid $1,000 for each of them. He went on to say that each of them now owed him $400, plus $200 more that he lent to them over the last two weeks. Sanchez said the man was not Matt Redd.
Now Sanchez and the other workers have been offered work elsewhere, but are unable to go because they do not have their documents.
Another worker, Hernando Reni from Mexico City, has not worked for two weeks. He came to the U. S. with an H-2B visa which allows him to work here. Now he feels like a prisoner.
One of the workers contacted an attorney in Mexico when the employer would not return his passport. He had met the attorney while sharing a taxi ride in Mexico City. The attorney then contacted the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity.
When Curtis Muhammad of the New Orleans Survivors Council heard about the plight of the men in Westlake, members from his organization and the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice traveled with Soni to Sulphur to address the employer.
Muhammad and Soni led the group of men on a march down Beglis Parkway to the Redd Properties Office. Office staff said Matt Redd was not there. When Soni asked if he could phone Redd, he was told Redd was in a meeting in Lake Charles and could not be interrupted. Another man in the office asked the crowd of workers, protesters and media to leave the office.
“May I have your name, sir,” Soni said. The man responded by saying, “I think you should leave now.”
About the time the crowd left Redd Properties' office the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's officers arrived. Organizers of the protest explained what was going on and Sheriff Tony Mancuso was contacted.
Prior to arriving in Sulphur, organizers and workers alerted the U. S. Attoney General, U. S. Department of Justice, F.B.I., and other state and local law enforcement agencies.
No resolution has been reached as of yet, though Rivera heard from other workers that he was being fired and sent back home. Yesterday's events resulted in the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office assisting the workers in retrieving their passports.
Published: Thursday, February 15, 2007 7:06 PM CST
http://www.sulphurd
Guest workers protest alleged mistreatment by their employer. Photos by Victoria Hartley
MARY ANN DUTTON, Staff Writer
In a press conference held in Sulphur on Thursday, the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity spokesman Saket Soni was the voice of 30 plus Mexican guest workers, all here in the U.S. legally, gathered beside him.
“Close to 100 Mexican gues workers have been trapped for months in Westlake after their employer illegally confiscated their passports,” Soni said. “These workers were recruited under false pretenses and transported to the U.S. where they have been subjected to humiliating conditions and treatment.
“Workers and advocates allege that the employer, a prominant business leader, has violated anti-slavery and human trafficking laws while leasing the workers to local businesses for profit.”
Soni said workers were defrauded by their employer who promised steady work and fair pay. Workers say the employer collected $400 for airfare from each of them, but after they paid the money were transported by vans to the U. S. Once they crossed the border, the drivers collected their passports. Despite numerous requests by the workers, the employer refuses to return their passports. Workers who have organized to demand their passports say they have faced retaliation and threats of deportation.
According to Soni the men were hired by a company under the name of Louisiana Labor, LLC. The workers say their employer is Matt Redd of Redd Properties.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's deputy talks with protest organizers outside of Redd Properties in Sulphur. Photos by Victoria Hartley [see original for image]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fernando Rivera said he was one of the first workers brought to the U. S. by Matt Redd. He has been in the Sulphur area for about five months.
“We get stopped by the police here and our asked for identification,” said Rivera. “We showed them the photocopy of our visa that our employer gave us, but they want the legal documents. They told me if they stop me a second time without my papers, they will deport me.”
The “papers” necessary to prove the men are here legally are their passports which were confiscated by the employer.
Rivera's mom has liver cancer and is going to have surgery. He wants to go to Mexico for the surgery so he can donate blood. Without his documents he is unable to travel.
Jose Juan Sanchez was told he would be working as a welder in the U. S., and the only cost that he would incur would be for passports. Instead, the company took away his visa and told him they had no work for him. Sanchez said the man spoke to the group, about 30, and told them that he had paid $1,000 for each of them. He went on to say that each of them now owed him $400, plus $200 more that he lent to them over the last two weeks. Sanchez said the man was not Matt Redd.
Now Sanchez and the other workers have been offered work elsewhere, but are unable to go because they do not have their documents.
Another worker, Hernando Reni from Mexico City, has not worked for two weeks. He came to the U. S. with an H-2B visa which allows him to work here. Now he feels like a prisoner.
One of the workers contacted an attorney in Mexico when the employer would not return his passport. He had met the attorney while sharing a taxi ride in Mexico City. The attorney then contacted the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity.
When Curtis Muhammad of the New Orleans Survivors Council heard about the plight of the men in Westlake, members from his organization and the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice traveled with Soni to Sulphur to address the employer.
Muhammad and Soni led the group of men on a march down Beglis Parkway to the Redd Properties Office. Office staff said Matt Redd was not there. When Soni asked if he could phone Redd, he was told Redd was in a meeting in Lake Charles and could not be interrupted. Another man in the office asked the crowd of workers, protesters and media to leave the office.
“May I have your name, sir,” Soni said. The man responded by saying, “I think you should leave now.”
About the time the crowd left Redd Properties' office the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's officers arrived. Organizers of the protest explained what was going on and Sheriff Tony Mancuso was contacted.
Prior to arriving in Sulphur, organizers and workers alerted the U. S. Attoney General, U. S. Department of Justice, F.B.I., and other state and local law enforcement agencies.
No resolution has been reached as of yet, though Rivera heard from other workers that he was being fired and sent back home. Yesterday's events resulted in the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office assisting the workers in retrieving their passports.
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