Chinese immigrants in US sue over forced labour at marijuana operation
- Immigrant workers say they were treated like prisoners at illegal marijuana farming operation in New Mexico
- They were among hundreds working on Navajo-area farms, mostly foreigners brought from Los Angeles
Chinese immigrant workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretences and forced to work 14 hours a day trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation where cultivating the plant is illegal, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in state court.
Job advertisements for the operation in Shiprock promised US$200 per day, housing and food in exchange for “gardening” and “flower cutting”. But when the workers arrived in New Mexico, the complaint says, their phones and car keys were taken away, they were barred from leaving and, in some instances, family members were separated.
In a statement Wednesday, lawyers for the 15 workers said their clients were treated like animals and commended their bravery for coming forward.
“Ending forced labour requires that the perpetrators of forced labour and those who seek to benefit from such schemes face serious consequences,” lawyer Aaron Halegua said. “We hope that this lawsuit will demonstrate that such abusive practices do not pay.”
The lawsuit names as defendants Navajo businessman Dineh Benally and Irving Lin, a Taiwanese entrepreneur based in Los Angeles.
It also names associates of Benally and Lin, as well as businesses linked to the farming operation, which authorities say ballooned to nearly two dozen farms and more than 1,100 greenhouses spread across 400 acres (162 hectares).