Human Trafficking

1. Human Trafficking Wage and Hour Division U.S. Department of Labor The Role of WHD in Combating Human Trafficking

2. Human Trafficking and WHD To promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the Nation's workforce

3. Human Trafficking and WHD All workers are entitled to full and fair compensation for their labor, regardless of immigration status

4. Human Trafficking and WHD Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, as amended Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) of 1983 Worker protections provided in several temporary visa programs Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) of 1931 McNamara-O�Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) of 1965

5. Human Trafficking and WHD Balances Three Complementary Strategies: Enforcement (targeted and complaint-driven) Education and Outreach Partnerships and Collaborative Efforts Public Awareness

6. Human Trafficking and WHD WHD targets low-wage industries, including: - Construction - Apparel Manufacturing - Agricultural - Automotive Maintenance and Repair - Food & Drink Establishments - Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and Health Services - Grocery Stores - Hotel and Tourist Industry

7. Human Trafficking and WHD WHD works with Consulates of Mexico and other countries, along with non-governmental organizations to reach out to immigrant communities and employer industries To help immigrant workers understand their rights, WHD has translated numerous publications in Spanish and Asian languages, set up worker hotlines, and conducted numerous compliance assistance events to reach out to this population

8. Human Trafficking and WHD Secure the victim/employees� statutory right to compensation for work performed in the United States Determine accurate wages due in accordance with provisions within the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Section 112(a)(2)

9. Human Trafficking and WHD WHD investigations apply: - Experience with low-wage, immigrant workers and industries - Familiarity with industry and business practices and trends under investigation - On-site investigations of establishments in industries where the potential for trafficking is high

10. Human Trafficking and WHD WHD interviews workers and employers on: - Wages received - Hours worked - Deductions made - Transportation methods to work - Living and working conditions

11. Human Trafficking and WHD WHD investigative scope: WH Investigators have the authority to interview individuals and request payroll records when conducting investigations of potential wage or other WHD violations WH Investigators can identify situations where workers may be intimidated, threatened, or held against their will

12. Human Trafficking and WHD

13. Human Trafficking and WHD Analysis of complicated payroll records Provision of technical expertise in computing accurate back wages and/or overtime Interviewing of potential victims of trafficking on wages and working conditions Reconstruction of wage entitlements

14. Human Trafficking and WHD 18 U.S.C. �1593 (Mandatory Restitution) - created by TVPA of 2000, Section 112 - provided that ordered restitution be the: �greater of the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim�s services or labor or the value of the victim�s labor as guaranteed under the minimum wage and overtime guarantees of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201, et seq.)�

15. Human Trafficking and WHD Referrals from WHD: WHD may make referrals to other agencies and social service organizations via direct liaison, or to anti-trafficking task forces Other agency referrals to WHD: WHD can investigate labor violations even when underlying issues do not appear to rise to the level of human trafficking

16. Human Trafficking and WHD First responders to instances of trafficking: - May be unfamiliar with labor and youth employment standards (victims may be wage earners, possibly underage, supporting others abroad or in the U.S.) - May not recognize potential employment relationships between employers and victims - May not identify individuals as employees subject to labor standards protection, in addition to being victims of trafficking

17. Human Trafficking and WHD Kil Soo Lee � American Samoa Juan & Ramiro Ramos � Florida Pedro and Laurie Ramos � Michigan Rainbow Buffet - Washington El Puerto De La Union / El Paisano Bar � New Jersey

18. Human Trafficking and WHD Daewoosa Samoa, Ltd. Kil Soo Lee, owner Garment factory employing 271 Vietnamese and Chinese workers producing U.S. retailer- labeled clothing This was the first case prosecuted under the TVPA. Mr. Kil Soo Lee owned the American Samoa garment factory, Daewoo Samoa, Ltd, where he engaged in trafficking � from Vietnam and China � 253 Vietnamese and 18 Chinese nationals to work in slave-like conditions between February 1999 and December 2000. Each worker had paid between $4,000 and $8,000 to quasi-government �recruiting� agencies to secure work contracts at what they were led to believe was a modern factory with decent living conditions. The workers produced millions of dollars worth of �Made in USA�-tagged clothing for U.S. retailers including Target, Sears, Wal-Mart, David Peyser Sportswear (MV Sport label), and J.C. Penney, and suffered threats, lack of food and pay, confinement, extortion, physical assaults at the hands of their employer and Samoan guards, and squalid living conditions. After a number of federal investigations by OSHA, Wage & Hour, DOJ and the FBI, federal authorities finally managed to close the factory, place the owner and other supervisors under arrest in March 2001, and bring a number of the workers to the United States to help convict Mr. Lee in February 2003. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in June 2005. Total back wages due from a decision by the High Court of American Samoa in April 2002 amounted to $3.5 million. The U.S. District Court in Hawaii also ordered Mr. Lee to pay $1.8 million in restitution in June 2005, sustained on appeal in December 2006. This was the first case prosecuted under the TVPA. Mr. Kil Soo Lee owned the American Samoa garment factory, Daewoo Samoa, Ltd, where he engaged in trafficking � from Vietnam and China � 253 Vietnamese and 18 Chinese nationals to work in slave-like conditions between February 1999 and December 2000. Each worker had paid between $4,000 and $8,000 to quasi-government �recruiting� agencies to secure work contracts at what they were led to believe was a modern factory with decent living conditions. The workers produced millions of dollars worth of �Made in USA�-tagged clothing for U.S. retailers including Target, Sears, Wal-Mart, David Peyser Sportswear (MV Sport label), and J.C. Penney, and suffered threats, lack of food and pay, confinement, extortion, physical assaults at the hands of their employer and Samoan guards, and squalid living conditions. After a number of federal investigations by OSHA, Wage & Hour, DOJ and the FBI, federal authorities finally managed to close the factory, place the owner and other supervisors under arrest in March 2001, and bring a number of the workers to the United States to help convict Mr. Lee in February 2003. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in June 2005. Total back wages due from a decision by the High Court of American Samoa in April 2002 amounted to $3.5 million. The U.S. District Court in Hawaii also ordered Mr. Lee to pay $1.8 million in restitution in June 2005, sustained on appeal in December 2006.

19. Human Trafficking and WHD R & A Harvesting, Inc. Juan and Ramiro Ramos Farm labor contractors running 700-man citrus grove forced labor camps Okeechobee, Florida (Wikipedia) Farm labor contractors in Florida, brothers Juan and Ramiro Ramos were each convicted and sentenced to 147 months� imprisonment in November 2002 for conspiracy to hold migrant workers in involuntary servitude, engaging in extortion to affect commerce, and to harbor illegal aliens for commercial and personal gain between January 2000 and June 2001. The family members had been engaged in illegally transporting Mexican citizens from Arizona to the citrus groves at Lake Placid in Okeechobee, Florida to work in fruit harvesting, where at least 700 undocumented workers were placed under surveillance and forced to work by threats, beatings, and death if they tried to leave. Each victim was charged a $1,000 �transportation fee� upon delivery to the camps, which then comprised deductions from pay. Farm labor contractors in Florida, brothers Juan and Ramiro Ramos were each convicted and sentenced to 147 months� imprisonment in November 2002 for conspiracy to hold migrant workers in involuntary servitude, engaging in extortion to affect commerce, and to harbor illegal aliens for commercial and personal gain between January 2000 and June 2001. The family members had been engaged in illegally transporting Mexican citizens from Arizona to the citrus groves at Lake Placid in Okeechobee, Florida to work in fruit harvesting, where at least 700 undocumented workers were placed under surveillance and forced to work by threats, beatings, and death if they tried to leave. Each victim was charged a $1,000 �transportation fee� upon delivery to the camps, which then comprised deductions from pay.

20. Human Trafficking and WHD On January 19, 2007, Fermin Pedro Ramos-Ramos and his wife Laurie Ann Ramos (Greenville, MI) were arrested and charged in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, MI with eight (8) counts of human trafficking related crimes, including trafficking into forced labor, harboring an illegal alien and aggravated sexual abuse. The criminal investigation followed a 2005 FLSA investigation by the WHD District Office in Detroit, which disclosed violations stemming from Ramos�s conveyance of the teenage Mexican woman to his home from Phoenix and subsequently employing her as a domestic housekeeper without any pay. On June 21, 2007, Mr. Ramos pleaded guilty to harboring, and agreed to pay $26,820 in back wages and liquidated damages that would be distributed to the victim by WHD. Final sentencing set for September 27, 2007.On January 19, 2007, Fermin Pedro Ramos-Ramos and his wife Laurie Ann Ramos (Greenville, MI) were arrested and charged in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, MI with eight (8) counts of human trafficking related crimes, including trafficking into forced labor, harboring an illegal alien and aggravated sexual abuse. The criminal investigation followed a 2005 FLSA investigation by the WHD District Office in Detroit, which disclosed violations stemming from Ramos�s conveyance of the teenage Mexican woman to his home from Phoenix and subsequently employing her as a domestic housekeeper without any pay. On June 21, 2007, Mr. Ramos pleaded guilty to harboring, and agreed to pay $26,820 in back wages and liquidated damages that would be distributed to the victim by WHD. Final sentencing set for September 27, 2007.

21. Human Trafficking and WHD Rainbow Buffet, Inc. Yan Shu and Jing Zheng Conspiracy to harbor and induce illegal aliens, violations of labor laws Tacoma, Washington (Wikipedia) In February 2006, the owners of Rainbow Buffet, Inc., a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington were ordered to pay $51,923 in minimum wage and overtime to 40 employees. The owners, Yan Shu and Jing Zheng, were convicted of conspiracy to harbor and induce illegal aliens, and sentenced to 366 days in prison. Rainbow Buffet had violated federal laws by paying salaries without regard to either daily and weekly hours worked or the law�s minimum wage and overtime requirements. The company also violated federal regulations by failing to include all employees on the payroll and to keep records of the hours they worked Back wages eventually collected amounted to $27,682, collected eventually from the forfeiture and sale of seized property.In February 2006, the owners of Rainbow Buffet, Inc., a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington were ordered to pay $51,923 in minimum wage and overtime to 40 employees. The owners, Yan Shu and Jing Zheng, were convicted of conspiracy to harbor and induce illegal aliens, and sentenced to 366 days in prison. Rainbow Buffet had violated federal laws by paying salaries without regard to either daily and weekly hours worked or the law�s minimum wage and overtime requirements. The company also violated federal regulations by failing to include all employees on the payroll and to keep records of the hours they worked Back wages eventually collected amounted to $27,682, collected eventually from the forfeiture and sale of seized property.

22. Human Trafficking and WHD El Puerto De La Union I/II, El Paisano Bar and Nightclub Luisa Medrano, et al. Trafficking, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and harboring of illegal aliens Victims smuggled from Olanchito, Honduras to Union City, New Jersey (via Houston, Texas) In January 2005, federal agents raided three Hudson County bars run by Luisa Medrano and nine other defendants, who operated a trafficking enterprise sourcing women as young as 14 years of age from Honduras and transporting them via Houston, Texas to New Jersey. The women experienced rape along the route, worked long hours with little pay once in New Jersey, and were subject to both physical and psychological abuse. Each worked to pay back between $10,000 and $20,000 in transportation fees, and was subjected to continuous threats of deportation. In the course of WHD investigations following the arrests, the women were found to be owed back wages, while the establishments themselves were assessed CMPs. The defendants� plea agreements included restitution amounts. In January 2005, federal agents raided three Hudson County bars run by Luisa Medrano and nine other defendants, who operated a trafficking enterprise sourcing women as young as 14 years of age from Honduras and transporting them via Houston, Texas to New Jersey. The women experienced rape along the route, worked long hours with little pay once in New Jersey, and were subject to both physical and psychological abuse. Each worked to pay back between $10,000 and $20,000 in transportation fees, and was subjected to continuous threats of deportation. In the course of WHD investigations following the arrests, the women were found to be owed back wages, while the establishments themselves were assessed CMPs. The defendants� plea agreements included restitution amounts.

23. Human Trafficking and WHD

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