Monday, July 20, 2015
Columbus Dispatch: As a crossroads state, Ohio harbors many victims of human trafficking, for the sex trade and for forced labor. A recent case highlights the responsibility employers, especially those in low-wage industries, have to scrutinize the sources of their workers.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland announced July 2 that a Texas man, two Ohio men and one Ohio woman are charged with multiple federal crimes involving 10 people who allegedly were smuggled into the U.S. from Guatemala and forced to work at Trillium Farms, a company that runs a number of egg farms in Licking, Hardin and Wyandot counties. The indictment claims the operators recruited families in Guatemala, promising safe passage and a good education for the workers and their eight children.
Instead, they were forced to live in derelict trailers in Marion County and work at various Trillium locations up to 12 hours a day, seven days per week.
Such brutal exploitation is part and parcel of the nation’s complex web of unresolved immigration problems.