The guest worker program should be expanded but administered by the United States government at the source. There should be no 3rd party private recruitment agencies involved the guest worker programs. Currently guest workers from agricultural to high tech pay kickbacks to these labor recruiters and contractors. Companies who wish to recruit must be vetted and the actual company that the employee works at. H visas should... more »

I think having a national number to dial like 411 would be helpful. I know there is a 1-888 number but in case of emergencies it's much easier and more likely for someone to dial a number that is easy to remember. If this were to happen local TV stations could do a segment on the new number and hopefully add some updated information about the most current information of labor trafficking. Or possibly working with 211... more »

I work for an Ag Employer and what is needed is virtual tools to education farmworkers and employers. Many farms are small family owned businesses and they need affordable and accessible training tools to teach their employees how to recognize trafficking, how to respond to suspected behavior and confidential reporting procedures.

Examples of successful projects include the ¡Basta! toolkit, this sexual harassment prevention... more »

The Little Hoover Commission recently released a series of three reports aimed at strengthening the State of California's response to labor trafficking. These reports were developed with contributions from numerous expert stakeholders across the state and the nation - victims and their advocates; prosecutors; labor inspectors and other critical local, state, and federal government employees; academic and legal researchers;... more »

We need to train farm workers on all forms of recruitment, employers on the consequences on trafficking a farm worker and breaking the law

In our experience, DOL should work to protect J-1 visa holders from trafficking and exploitation in farm work and agriculture . This should be done through cooperation with DOS on pre-departure training, consistent and timely investigations and screening of all host programs, reliable reporting resources for complaints, and more. In our experience, the J-1 program can be valuable; however, it involves significant opportunity... more »

The Advocates for Human Rights recommends DOL set-up and follow procedures for collaboration with ERO/ICE, which focus on the rights of victims and ensuring witness protections. In our experience, DOL ability to investigate has been impinged by ICE/ERO actions that apprehend victims, re-traumatizing them and making investigations/support more challenging due to possible deportation. DOL should work with ICE officials... more »

The Advocates for Human Rights strongly encourages DOL to ensure any protocols guarantee the involvement of social service providers and advocates early and throughout the investigation. The individuals help aid the investigation by providing needed services to make victims safe and comfortable. They also have training and skills in trauma-informed interviewing techniques and understand nuances facing special populations.... more »

In 2020, Georgia's Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force's Work Group 6, which focuses on foreign nationals and labor trafficking, released a groundbreaking new report on labor trafficking in Georgia. The report is the first of its kind in Georgia and marks a renewed commitment to end human trafficking in all forms in the state, including forced labor.

The origin of the report stems from the important conversations... more »

In some instances, Agriculture employers in the U.S. may be unaware of the exploitation taking place at the level of labor recruitment overseas with regard to their specific workforce. ETA and state farmworker agencies should partner to develop a system to ensure that ag employers are made aware when they are engaging in a business relationship with a recruiter that has been identified as an exploitative or labor trafficking... more »

ETA should ensure sufficient funding is available to reach farmworkers and should seek to cooperate with legal services organizations and other farmworker-serving organizations on the ground to provide education to farmworkers on labor trafficking in their own language and in adequate formats.

Instead of making a separate training, add a policy to the already mandatory sexual harrasment: 1 hour employee training every 2 years and 2 hour supervisor annual training. Also, the state should provide an emergency assistance plan to remove employees who report trafficking to a safe environment immediatly. Also, a response team dedicated to providing safety to those that report anonymously, on behalf of victims, or... more »

December 14, 2020

Submitted via IDEAS page

Mark Mittelhauser

Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs

U.S. Department of Labor

RE: U.S. Department of Labor's Efforts to End Labor Trafficking National Online Dialogue

Dear Associate Deputy Undersecretary Mittelhauser:

This comment is being submitted by Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM), a binational non-profit with operations in the... more »

Justice at Work has extensive experience with survivors of trafficking within the temporary work visa system (including H2-A, H2-B and J-1 workers). Many aspects of the current system lend themselves to trafficking and other abuses; we urge DOL to enforce existing regulations and strengthen worker protections in each of these areas.

First, many temporary workers are recruited by third party intermediaries, some of whom... more »

Local NGOs and community-based organizations should be funded to provide Know Your Rights trainings to farmworkers at their place of work. Employers should be required to include these presentations as part of the employee training, and should be required to pay the farmworkers for attending the training. This establishes a local contact for workers for a variety of needs, including support if workers are abused or exploited.... more »