Between 2012 and 2020, migrant workers from Mexico were recruited by companies in Illinois to construct hog and poultry enclosures under the H-2A temporary agricultural program. They came to the U.S. under the promise of well-paid jobs, but were instead forced to work across the country for hundreds of hours without pay.

If they complained, they were threatened with deportation.

That’s according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 10 by Legal Aid Chicago, Jordan & Zito LLC and Gair Eberhard Nelson Dedinas Ltd. on behalf of 24 agricultural construction workers.

The H-2A program provides scaffolding for the agricultural system, allowing farms to bring in enough labor to pick fruits and vegetables Americans rely on. But many workers have been trafficked by employers using the program, said experts and activists who fear the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed the situation to grow.

The federal complaint accuses Mauricio Luna — who allegedly did business under the names ML Farm Systems, Alpha Agricultural Builders and Spartan Agricultural Builders — of human trafficking and forced labor after allegedly inducing the workers to travel to the U.S. to work under false promises, coercion, intimidation and threats, which caused them to work without pay and in fear of harm.

“Our clients report that they were chronically underpaid, worked excessive hours under difficult and dangerous conditions, and were threatened when they protested,” said Mariyam Hussain, supervisory attorney of Legal Aid Chicago’s migrant farm worker project, in a statement. “They are entitled to be paid for the hours they worked, and remedied for any systemic abuse of the agricultural worker program.”

Read the full article about labor trafficking by Amanda Pérez Pintado at The Counter.