Florida employer violated multiple federal laws to cover up human trafficking.
The Department of Labor recently announced the sentencing of Florida labor contractor Bladimir Moreno to 10 years in prison for human trafficking and forced labor. Forced labor is legally different from slavery since enslavement requires a legal document of human ownership and forced labor does not. However, functionally, they are very similar. Moreno, the ringleader of a multistate forced labor operation, was found keeping 44 workers in inhumane conditions on his Florida farm, forcing them to work without pay. He also attempted to cover up his actions by providing falsified records to Labor Department investigators.
“Human trafficking is a scourge caused by unscrupulous employers who profit by exploiting vulnerable workers, many of whom are afraid to complain about the awful situation in which they find themselves,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria.
“These defendants exploited their victims’ vulnerabilities and immigration status, promising them access to the American dream but then turning around and confiscating their passports and threatening arrest and deportation if they did not endlessly toil away for their profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Assistant Attorney General Clarke as she oversees the DOJ Civil Rights Division.
- For Administrator Coria as he heads his regional office of the Wage and Hour Division.
- For U.S. officials seeking to liberate those being trafficked in this nation and around the world.
Sources: Department of Labor, CIW-Online
