World News
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
EL MONTE SWEATSHOPS 1988-95
Living Conditions
72 garment workers from Thailand and
some Latino workers who came from
poor families looking to make money in
the USA were held captive in
sweatshops. These workers lived in
horrible conditions where they slept in
mats and were stuffed in crowded rooms.
Apart from living in horrible conditions,
these garment workers were paid less
than a dollar an hour, which is way less
than the minimum wage. The sad part is
that the families stuck in this sweatshop
could not reach out for help or try to
escape because the people who
trafficked them could just hurt them or
kill them. No one could do anything, but
to just watch and continue with their day
working so long for so little money. After
7 years of being in business illegally, the
sweatshop was raided. A lawsuit was
filed against them which led to impact
immigration laws by creating the T-Visa.
This visa gave law enforcement the
power to prosecute human traffickers.
December 2023
Sweatshop workers
Although these garment workers were face 2 to 7 years in prison and once
freed from these horrible living their sentence was done, they were
conditions, they were still put in jail since deported back to the country they
they were living the United States
came from. Although the companies
illegally. Although they were put in jail
payed an estimate of 4 million dollars
for these reasons, the Thai were saved by
the lawsuit and visas since they could
to the 150 workers working in El
possibly apply for citizenship. The lawsuit Monte, they claimed that they knew
was pretty confusing at first because of nothing and had no idea what was
race, but eventually the Thai and Latinx going on in the sweatshops before it
people won the lawsuit and were payed was raided.
1.2 million dollars and could gain their
US citizenship. Besides from the garment
workers, the operators had to