“When the man who feeds the world by toiling in the fields is himself deprived of the basic rights of feeding, sheltering and caring for his own family, the whole community of man is sick.” -Cesar Chavez

Slavery in the Fields

• In five cases since 1996, a dozen Florida farm labor contractors, smugglers and their associates have been sent to prison for enslaving and exploiting farm workers. (Ronnie Greene, "New Farmhand Abuse Claims Probed." Miami Herald. December 4, 2003.)

• In June of 2002, three citrus contractors were convicted in federal court on charges of conspiring to hold hundreds of workers as slaves, threatening them with violence and holding them hostage over alleged $1,000 debts; according to the Associated Press. (Jill Barton, Associated Press writer, "Slavery Conviction Could Help Improve Farm Working Conditions." Naples Daily News. June 29, 2002.)

• In June 2002, six farm labor contractors were indicted on federal charges of holding uncodumented farm workers in conditions of forced labor; virtually enslaving them in unsanitary migrant labor camps near Buffalo, New York. According to the indictment, the workers were not allowed to leave the camps until all their debts were paid off; debts that were impossible to repay due to large paycheck deductions for food, housing and transportation. The contractors are also alleged to have used threats of physical harm against the workers as well as guards to monitor their movements.

• In December of 2003 the Palm Beach Post published a series of articles entitled, simply, "Modern Day Slavery". A product of nine months of in-depth investigative reporting by a team of Post writers, it describes two new slavery cases, cases not yet investigated by authorities but researched and reported by Palm Beach Post journalists. (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/brownin...)

• The Coalition of Catholic Organizations Against Human Trafficking offers information on rights and services available to victims of trafficking. Contact them for more information.

Slavery in Our Midst, Global Rights Voices, Fall 2004