The U.S. Department of Labor is charging Santiago Gonzalez, the owner of G Farms in El Mirage, Ariz., with housing roughly 70 Mexican workers in dangerous conditions and paying them below the legal minimum.
“The workers were brought in under the federally supervised H-2A visa program, which allows U.S. growers to import seasonal laborers from abroad. Employers who use the program are required to pay a minimum wage set by the government and provide the guest workers free transportation and housing, which must include 50 square feet of sleeping space per person,” says the LA Times.
But Gonzalez housed his workers in school buses and windowless trailers before moving them to a motel, where he forced them to pay for their own rooms, as well as for food and transportation.
Initially “Gonzalez had workers shower in nine stalls inside a cargo container; there was no functional sewage system, so wastewater accumulated underneath the container,” says the Times, citing Kristina Espinoza, a Labor Department investigator. “The electrical cord used to light the facility was exposed to standing water, posing a risk of electrocution, according to court documents.” Instead of paying a minimum hourly rate of $10.95, Gonzalez offered the workers $0.13 to $0.70 per bag of produce.
With fewer immigrants crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, more farmers are relying on the H-2A program. Gonzalez isn’t the first transgressor. Federal investigators have uncovered cases of employers shorting wages, soliciting kickbacks, illegally deducting rent, and holding workers hostage to their visas, says the Times.