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In 2016, “Roberto” legally came to
the United States for the same reason many immigrants do — to earn a
living and a slice of the American dream. But Roberto, a native of
southern Mexico, says he suffered a nightmare of coercion, financial
exploitation, threats and mistreatment while working on a Georgia farm
and, later, at cabbage patches in southeastern Wisconsin owned by
Borzynski Farms.
Roberto
arrived in the United States legally under an H-2A visa, which allows
seasonal farm laborers to work for specific employers. Roberto says he
was forced to pay a fee and turn over the deed to his parents’ property
to an intermediary in Mexico as security for his continued work in the
United States.
When Roberto
arrived in Georgia, the situation was not at all what the recruiter had
described. There were hundreds of workers — all men, all from Mexico —
living together in cramped barracks and isolated from nearby towns, he
said.
“The same day you arrive, that same day they ask you for your passport. They take all of your personal documents,” Roberto said of the contractors, who hired out workers to farms growing squash, cucumbers and cilantro in southern Georgia.
“The same day you arrive, that same day they ask you for your passport. They take all of your personal documents,” Roberto said of the contractors, who hired out workers to farms growing squash, cucumbers and cilantro in southern Georgia.
No talking to strangers
The boss warned Roberto and the other workers that there were ground rules.
“He
tells us to get it in our heads that we came to work,” Roberto
recalled. “No matter what, they don’t want us talking to any strangers —
people that are not from the work site. And that we couldn’t leave
either — work, and then back to the house.”
Roberto
— not his real name — is among 14 men from Mexico who were allegedly
victimized by a labor-trafficking scheme that transported legal
temporary farm workers from Georgia to work illegally at Borzynski Farms
in Mount Pleasant, according to an indictment in the U.S. District
Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced May 22.
He
spoke exclusively to Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch in
2017, before the indictment, and has asked through his attorneys to
remain anonymous to avoid potential retribution. At their request, WPR
and Wisconsin Watch delayed publication of the interview to avoid
compromising the investigation.
Five
family members from Garcia & Sons, a farm labor contractor from
Moultrie, Georgia, have been charged with labor-trafficking related
counts. They are Saul Garcia, 49; Saul Garcia, Jr., 26; Daniel Garcia,
28; Consuelo Garcia, 45; all of Moultrie, Georgia; and Maria Remedios
Garcia-Olalde, 52, a Mexican national. Attorneys for the Garcias
declined requests for an interview.
Two
of the defendants — the elder Saul Garcia and Garcia-Olalde — also were
indicted on obstruction charges for allegedly withholding or falsifying
evidence, including trying to keep one of the alleged victims from
testifying before a federal grand jury. A trial date has not been set.
The
federal case developed after the state Department of Workforce
Development investigated the farm in 2016. The UMOS Latina Resource
Center in Milwaukee relayed a tip to the state agency that the workers
were being held like “prisoners,” according to records obtained under
the state public records law.
But
spokesman Ben Jedd said the agency was unable to substantiate the
allegation after interviewing each worker. DWD did issue a warning to
the elder Saul Garcia for preventing workers from cooperating with
efforts to investigate the working conditions.
Records
indicate federal investigators had already begun their work before DWD
ended its inquiry, but it remains unclear who contacted federal
authorities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Milwaukee declined to
describe the origins of the case, which was investigated by the FBI, the
U.S. departments of Labor and Homeland Security and the Racine Police
Department.
Jedd said DWD,
under Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, is “evaluating our current
programs and providing educational awareness to our employees” to better
detect labor trafficking.
Farm ‘disheartened’ by allegations
The owners of Borzynski Farms said they knew nothing of the conditions under which the men worked or that they were allegedly trafficked.
“Borzynski
Farms is disheartened that its fields and facilities may have been used
by Garcia & Sons to exploit or cause harm to any worker,” the
farm’s attorney, Stephen Kravit, said in a statement.
Borzynski
Farms said in a statement to multiple media outlets in May that it
contracted with Garcia & Sons, whose chief financial officer is
listed as Saul Garcia, for harvesting services during the time period
covered in the indictment. Borzynski Farms did not respond to a request
for comment from The Journal Times.
The
farm, which also has operations in Texas, Illinois and Georgia, grows
produce including cabbage, sweet corn, leafy greens and green beans.
Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fainting-and-freezing-in-the-fields-alleged-labor-trafficking-victim/article_b5d83bac-a671-5b92-8b35-26ebdce99d5a.html
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Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fainting-and-freezing-in-the-fields-alleged-labor-trafficking-victim/article_b5d83bac-a671-5b92-8b35-26ebdce99d5a.html
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