| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| US slavery, 2021: Human-trafficking ring trapped hundreds of migrant workers picking onions for 20-cents per bucket in south Georgia as part of years-long $200M operation that saw two die and another repeatedly raped |
| 2021-12-07 |
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
Only two of the defendants are described as South Georgia business owners - most are contractors and recruiters. There were essentially three aspects to the alleged human trafficking operation: misusing the H-2A visa program to bring in workers from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras under the pretext of being agricultural workers; abusing and exploiting the workers to make money; and laundering the proceeds through big cash purchases, cashier's checks and a casino. Investigators have dubbed the gang the 'Patricio TCO' (a transnational criminal organization) after Maria Patricio, a 70-year-old resident of Nicholls, Georgia. She is accused of filing fraudulent petitions to bring workers into the United States via the country's H-2A work visa program. Patricio has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, VICE reports. Under H-2A, a worker's legal status is contingent on remaining under the employment of the party that sponsored their visa. This means they are tied to that sponsor and cannot simply pick up sticks and work for someone else. Starting in at least 2015, the criminals starting to haul in thousands of workers, allegedly promising them they would be paid under the terms of a contract - typically $10 to $12 per hour and would be provided with transportation, housing and food. The criminal enterprise would then send dozens of false petitions to the government seeking more than 71,000 laborers for an 'agricultural employer.' The US then issued 'thousands' of these visas to foreign nationals. Georgia is second only to Florida for most H-2A workers in the nation. Once the more than 100 victims were brought into southern Georgia under the program and were kept in cramped, unsanitary quarters in camps with little or no food, limited plumbing and without safe water, according to the indictment. Migrant workers were also allegedly charged unlawful fees they could not afford, and some were illegally forced to do lawn care, construction, and restaurant work. Others were threatened with violence or deportation, the indictment states, and they would coerce the workers and witnesses to provide the federal government with 'materially false information' to hide their illegal activities. Federal officials say the slavery ring extended across southern Georgia where farmers paid the conspirators to provide contract laborers. Often, they were sold to other members of the crime ring in the southern Georgia counties of Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Tattnall, Toombs and Ware. But the illegal activities extended within the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Georgia; the Middle District of Florida; the Southern District of Texas. The defendants then allegedly laundered the cash by siphoning millions into a casino and through the purchases of land, homes, vehicles, and businesses. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #3 NN, I think it would only be west-coasters and non-Americans who are unaware of Vidalia onions. And WTF? There's machinery for harvesting onions. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2021-12-07 14:44 |
| #2 But we pay $2.00+ a pound here in GA. For you Yankees GA. Vidalia Sweet Onions are the #1 Onion in the World. Sliced thin, batter dipped and fried crispy. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2021-12-07 08:14 |
| #1 Strangely missing in the article are donations to Dem campaigns that support illegal immigration. |
| Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 2021-12-07 00:44 |