US College Program Accused of Human Trafficking
2021-01-21
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1Eleven international students have taken legal action against companies and a small community college in the central United States.
2A lawsuit by the students accuses the companies and college of human trafficking and involuntary servitude.
3Nine students from Brazil and two from Chile filed the lawsuit earlier this week.
4It claims that Western Iowa Tech Community College and J&L Staffing -- both in Sioux City, Iowa -- urged the students to come to the U.S. under a work- and study-based visa exchange program.
5The students, it says, were then forced into factory jobs that had no educational value and were unrelated to their fields of study.
6The lawsuit states that the students were paid much less than American employees.
7And it says money was taken out of the students' earnings to pay the college and the staffing company.
8Civil rights lawyer Roxanne Conlin represents the students.
9She says the lawsuit seeks to demand that the college provide the students with an education, as promised.
10The students were told they would be offered work experience in fields such as culinary arts and robotics, Conlin said.
11But they instead received jobs at two nearby factories: Royal Canin pet food plant and Tur-Pak foods, which puts together food products.
12Royal Canin said in an email that it knew about the lawsuit but does not comment on active legal cases.
13J&L Staffing and Tur-Pak Foods did not answer messages seeking comment.
14Conlin filed the lawsuit under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act; the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
15She also claims violations of the Iowa Wage Payment Collections Act.
16Conlin is asking the court to stop the college and companies from taking part in the work-and-study J-1 visa program.
17She is also asking the court to provide the students with an education and pay them money for past and future mental and emotional harm.
18The students were signed up for classes at the community college.
19But they were kept away from the general student population, the lawsuit says.
20They only took classes with other Brazilians and Chileans in the J-1 visa program.
21The lawsuit also says college officials controlled when and where the students could work and under what conditions.
22A spokeswoman for the community college denied the claims.
23"These accusations are completely untrue...and offensive. We look forward to defending the college and its employees in district court," said Andrea Rohlena, the college's director of marketing.
24It is the second lawsuit against the community college and the companies.
25The first was filed in November and involved eight students from Chile.
26The community college began its J-1 program in early 2019.
27By November of that year, the school was under investigation after an anonymous report was filed.
28In January 2020, the college released a statement saying it had learned students in the program were unhappy.
29The school blamed a "failure to clarify expectations" and "a breakdown in communication" for some of the problems.
30The community college ended the program in March 2020.
31It said it did so because of the coronavirus pandemic.
32The college said it bought airplane tickets for the students to return home.
33But many have chosen to stay in the United States, including the students Conlin represents.
34I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Eleven international students have taken legal action against companies and a small community college in the central United States. A lawsuit by the students accuses the companies and college of human trafficking and involuntary servitude. 2Nine students from Brazil and two from Chile filed the lawsuit earlier this week. 3It claims that Western Iowa Tech Community College and J&L Staffing -- both in Sioux City, Iowa -- urged the students to come to the U.S. under a work- and study-based visa exchange program. The students, it says, were then forced into factory jobs that had no educational value and were unrelated to their fields of study. 4The lawsuit states that the students were paid much less than American employees. And it says money was taken out of the students' earnings to pay the college and the staffing company. 5Civil rights lawyer Roxanne Conlin represents the students. She says the lawsuit seeks to demand that the college provide the students with an education, as promised. 6The students were told they would be offered work experience in fields such as culinary arts and robotics, Conlin said. But they instead received jobs at two nearby factories: Royal Canin pet food plant and Tur-Pak foods, which puts together food products. 7Royal Canin said in an email that it knew about the lawsuit but does not comment on active legal cases. J&L Staffing and Tur-Pak Foods did not answer messages seeking comment. 8Conlin filed the lawsuit under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act; the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. She also claims violations of the Iowa Wage Payment Collections Act. 9Conlin is asking the court to stop the college and companies from taking part in the work-and-study J-1 visa program. She is also asking the court to provide the students with an education and pay them money for past and future mental and emotional harm. 10The students were signed up for classes at the community college. But they were kept away from the general student population, the lawsuit says. They only took classes with other Brazilians and Chileans in the J-1 visa program. The lawsuit also says college officials controlled when and where the students could work and under what conditions. 11A spokeswoman for the community college denied the claims. "These accusations are completely untrue...and offensive. We look forward to defending the college and its employees in district court," said Andrea Rohlena, the college's director of marketing. 12It is the second lawsuit against the community college and the companies. The first was filed in November and involved eight students from Chile. 13The community college began its J-1 program in early 2019. By November of that year, the school was under investigation after an anonymous report was filed. 14In January 2020, the college released a statement saying it had learned students in the program were unhappy. The school blamed a "failure to clarify expectations" and "a breakdown in communication" for some of the problems. 15The community college ended the program in March 2020. It said it did so because of the coronavirus pandemic. The college said it bought airplane tickets for the students to return home. But many have chosen to stay in the United States, including the students Conlin represents. 16I'm Jonathan Evans. 17The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 18________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20servitude - n. the condition of being a slave or of having to obey another person 21staffing - n. a group of people who work for an organization or business 22culinary - adj. used in or relating to cooking 23pet - n. a tame animal kept as a companion rather than for work 24anonymous - adj. not named or identified 25clarify - v. to make (something) easier to understand