Labor Trafficking

She watched over their children. She cleaned their house every day. Sometimes she cleaned their friend’s house. In return, they made her work long hours. They grossly underpaid her – on those few occasions they bothered to pay her at all. They threatened to get her arrested if she tried to seek help. They kept her trapped for nearly two years.

This is not a story – this is real life. It happened in Georgia. “She” was a woman from Swaziland, Africa, lured by the promise of a short-term job opportunity. “They” were a minister and his wife. The FBI is working on this case as you read this.

Across the United States, maids, nannies, factory workers, dish washers, nail salon employees, beggars and others are victims of human trafficking. They are forced to work off inflated and illegal “debts”. They are threatened with violence and police action if they attempt to escape. They don't know the language, they don't have any resources, and they could be right in front of your eyes.

Spotlight: Migrant Workers

Georgia has over 100,000 migrant workers. These individuals can be found in poultry factories, construction sites, and tobacco farms. They plant our onions and pick our peaches. They grow our peanuts and pluck our pecans. Many of them are on temporary worker visas; many of them are undocumented. They make our food affordable, and some of them might be slaves.

Conditions for migrant farm workers (the non-trafficked ones) are generally bleak. Most of them are male, and most are in their twenties, but they are beset by health problems: they live in unsanitary conditions, are repeatedly exposed to pesticides, and must do grueling and repetitive work. Except for the occasional outreach program, they have no health benefits or access to health care.

Studies of Georgia migrant farm workers, for instance, show that they are 50 times more likely to have parasites than the average American.  Their life expectancy – 49 years -- is equivalent to that of people living in the poorest, war-ravaged third world countries. Yet they are right here, in almost every county in Georgia.