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Georgia farm workers class action
- Who: A class action lawsuit has been filed against a Georgia woman and a blueberry grower on behalf of immigrant farm workers.
- Why: The plaintiffs say the defendants subjected them to forced work for little pay in abusive conditions.
- Where: The Georgia farm workers class action lawsuit was filed in a Georgia federal court.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against a Georgia woman and a blueberry grower on behalf of immigrant farm workers who allege the defendants subjected them to forced work for little pay in abusive conditions.
It is the latest development in Operation Blooming Onion, one of the largest human trafficking cases ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2021, two dozen defendants were indicted on federal conspiracy charges after a transnational, multiyear investigation into a human smuggling and labor trafficking operation that illegally imported Mexican and Central American workers into “brutal conditions” on South Georgia farms.
In early April, attorneys on behalf of agricultural laborers brought to Georgia on seasonal visas filed a class action lawsuit in early April against Maria Leticia Patricio, the central figure of 24 individuals indicted in November 2021 as part of Operation Blooming Onion, Savannah Morning News reports.
The plaintiffs — 100 Mexican, Guatemalan and Hunduran farm workers in Georgia recruited under the federal H2-A visa program — allege they were trafficked.
According to the lawsuit, blueberry grower MBR Farms was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, The Business & Human Rights Resource Center reports.
Threats and squalid conditions, lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit reportedly describes workers subject to conditions not included in their contracts, confiscated identification and visa documents, threats and violence, recruitment fee charges of hundreds of dollars.
The workers were also allegedly housed in cramped and squalid housing and did not have enough food to eat.
The CEO of MBR Farms told Savannah Morning News they were unaware of the lawsuit and were not responsible for the labor recruitment.
In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would help close to a million migrant farm workers and their families gain legal status, while updating the H-2A agricultural visa program.
In that case, 30 Republicans, many representing agriculture-heavy districts, joined nearly every Democrat to vote in favor of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
What do you think of the allegations in this labor lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
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