H-2B RICO Lawsuit: Filipino Workers Claim Servitude

"According to a new federal lawsuit, the Filipino worker who changed your sheets at W South Beach Hotel, or served you lunch at posh restaurants and country clubs, may have essentially been an indentured servant.  Seventeen Filipino immigrants allege that a ring of Miami-based employment agencies charged them outrageous "security deposits," forced them to work for less than minimum wage and no overtime, and stashed them in overcrowded housing." - Miami New Times, Apr. 25, 2012.

"Lead plaintiff Ma Cecilia Delgado claims that she and others were lured to the United States from 2006 to 2009 under H-2B guest worker status, with false promises of fair pay, humane treatment and green cards that never came.   Instead, they say, they were paid less than minimum wages, stiffed for overtime, were packed into overcrowded housing and compelled into forced labor under threat of deportation." - Courthouse News Service, Apr. 24, 2012.