House Votes to Reign in Outlaw Foreign Labor Recruiters

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- The House of Representatives approved legislation today by a 405 to 2 vote that would hold employers and foreign labor contractors responsible for foreign workers recruited for jobs in the United States.

“This is a good first step in ending the well documented abuses of unscrupulous foreign labor contractors,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. The bill includes many provisions proposed by Miller earlier in the year. “Without stronger protections, workers often wind up trapped in oppressive employment situations that are nothing short of modern-day slavery.”

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (H.R. 3887) would require clear and accurate disclosure of terms of employment to recruited workers in their native language including location, compensation, job requirements, and commissions paid by employers to recruiters, among other items.  It would also outlaw exorbitant fees paid by workers to recruiters that expose workers to bankruptcy or other financial harm. These fees have trapped many guest workers into a cycle of debt, afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.

The bill also requires foreign labor recruiters to register with the Department of Labor and gives the Department the ability to exclude unscrupulous recruiters from participating in guest worker programs. The recruiters and, depending on the circumstances, the employers that use them would be liable for violations of these provisions.    

For more information on legislation proposed by Miller earlier this year, click here.

The committee explored the status of U.S. guest worker programs in June and highlighted the many abuses of these workers by foreign labor recruiters. For more information on the hearing, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853