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From the U.K. to the U.S., and everywhere in between, people are exploited, particularly foreign domestic workers, who are some of the most vulnerable workers of all. They are either brought to foreign lands or travel of their own free will, but usually because they are in desperate need of work. I have written in the past how deplorably many people in the Middle East treat their servants, but they're not the only ones who mistreat their maids. A few days ago I wrote about the abuse and degradation of domestic workers in the U.K., and about actual cases of modern-day slavery. Then today I read about the same thing happening right here in the U.S.
According to the Department of Justice, a Boca Raton, Florida couple, in their forties, brought 39 Filipinos into the U.S. and
"conspired to obtain a cheap, compliant and readily available labor pool, by making false promises to entice the victims to incur debts."
The owners of an employment service, 41-year-old Sophia Manuel and 45-year-old Alfonso Baldonado, Jr., brought the Filipinos to the U.S., and then once here, immediately took away their passports, and then
"housed them in overcrowded, substandard conditions without adequate food or drinking water; put them to work at area country clubs and hotels for little or no pay; required them to remain in the defendants' service, unpaid when there was insufficient work."
"The defendants then compelled the victims' labor and services through threats to have the workers arrested and deported, knowing the workers faced serious economic harm and possible incarceration for nonpayment of debts in the Philippines."
They ordered them not to leave the premises without permission and "threatened to have the workers arrested and deported for complaining about these terms and conditions," the statement said.
The couple have pleaded guilty to all charges, with Manuela also pleading guilty to
... lying in an application filed with the US Labor Department to obtain foreign labor certifications and visas under the federal H2B guest worker program.
It's shameful how people treat others with such disrespect, but it's also good to know that they are often caught, and that they will eventually suffer the consequences for their actions.
Source: Yahoo
