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| "The Rebellious Slave" (1513) by Michelangelo |
These days, when Americans think about human trafficking, the images that come to mind are of sexual slavery or prostitution. They don't think about labor trafficking. But Soni claims that the Indian workers were victims of human trafficking because their recruitment involved "fraud, force [and] coercion" (120). The workers weren't free because of: 1) the debts they had incurred as a result of false promises made by the company; and 2) the crimes they had been compelled to commit (false testimony, visa fraud), which were also a result of false promises made by the company.
Based on what you've read so far, do you think the workers simply made bad business deals (trusting the labor broker and the lawyer who met them in India and giving them $14,000 they shouldn't have given them)? Are they criminals? Or are they victims? To what degree are they all three? Who deserves punishment in this case and what kind of punishment is warranted?
Only answer this question after you've read Part Three, Chapter Three and all the preceding chapters.
I believe the immigrants where Criminals, Victims and made a bad business deal. They came to this country legally but when their work visas expired, they technically became criminals for illegal immigration from the government’s point of view. I don’t think of them as criminals though because in my eyes Signal, Malvern and Pol were the real criminals. They committed fraud, extorted and abused the workers to the point they had to leave the camps. But the whole time the immigrants and their families where the true victims, they were lied to and used then discarded when they stated to see the truth. Malvern preyed on the Indians idea of getting a green card and finding success in the United States. The Indians should’ve known this deal was too good to be true and found references to see if it was real. The Indians made mistakes in this situation, but they are the victims, and the true criminals was Malvern and Signal.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The Indians were taken advantage of because they were so desperate and eager for the chance at the "American Dream." However, when they were asked to pay egregious sums of money and then lie, they ignored the signs that this was a shady operation. I do not believe that they were naive. They simply chose to ignore the warning signs. Which is understandable given the opportunities they were hoping to get. And while they inadvertently broke the law when their visas ran out, they purposely broke the law to get into the country.
DeleteI believe that the immigrants are victims first, and then somewhat criminals. The idea of a better life for their families was so exciting and new that they almost had no choice but to make these criminal decisions. To them, their only option was to lie. However, they were taken advantage of by actual criminals and liars, who abused their power on people who didn't know the actual rules and U.S. law. While I think that they could've done better about finding out the authenticity of this operation, I don't think it's realistic for us to think that we would do any better in their shoes. I think that they are victims of trafficking because they were hopeful for a new life and ended up being used and abused.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the big picture, it does look like a bad business deal, but with context it was hope for a great future. While this excitement doesn't give reason to trust a labor broker with your life earnings, his trustworthy reputation in their area allowed the applicants to lean into it with less hesitation. These men are victims. They were coerced into making the wrong decisions that they made. I don't think they they played no part in any of it as they still are functioning people, but at their vulnerable state, they were victims before they were criminals.
ReplyDeleteIt is like telling a kid, "If you give me all your candy, I can take you and your family to Disney World. Don't tell your parents I took all your candy though." The kid would lie to their parents and give up their stash of candy at the chance to go to Disney World.
These workers were desperate in different ways, but nonetheless still desperate. They were bad businessmen in trusting a company with that much money, regardless of their promises. They were victims in that they were made all these false promises and encouraged to break the law to reap the benefits of said promises. They were criminals in that even though they had good intentions for their family, they were still consciously committing a crime. At the end of the day, the company deserves the punishment in the Signal case because of the fraud and forced coercion involved in their recruiting process.
I believe the immigrant workers are victims first. It is important to look at this deal from their perspective; many of them are used to working internationally to support themselves, their spouses, and their families. Some of these men are the main breadwinners of their households. To them, the opportunity to work in America is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. They get to continue supporting their families while working toward a visa that allows them to move to America together. They have no previous knowledge of visa proceedings in America besides what they are told by contractors. When presented with such an amazing opportunity, they probably started rationalizing the shocking cost. These men only became criminals under the influence of Signal. Once the men had secured their payments and made all the necessary arrangements to start working for signal, they were informed that they needed to lie in order to receive their visas. Their only option was to lie; all the money they paid would have gone to waste, leaving their families in deep debt if they did not.
ReplyDeleteHey Denna, I agree that the immigrant workers were victims in their situation for the most part. For me the key factor is that they were not fully informed on the situation and what they were really getting themselves into. Of course, they were promised green cards which were never going to come, but they were also thousands of dollars in before they truly knew what they were committing to. I still think that they made a bad decision, but Signal is more to blame than they are.
DeleteAre these Signal workers criminals, victims, or workers who made bad business deals, and based on their classification, who deserves punishment? By U.S. law, they are criminals, but that doesn't mean they are morally in the wrong, only in a legal sense. In the same fashion, the workers, by definition, made bad business deals. However, people don’t exist within this world to find titles that fit them in a literal sense. I believe they can identify with the title of victim more than anything because of their demographic. The three signal workers behind most of the recruiting, Pol, Burnett, and Dewan, tricked these people and took advantage of them because they knew these desperate people would place their faith in them. If this scheme was successfully performed on another demographic, such as workers from an informed and non desperate group, then it could be seen as solely a bad business deal. However, Signal took advantage of them because they knew these people would do anything for the american dream.
ReplyDeleteSignal most undoubtedly deserves punishment, and more specifically, the three recruiters deserve the most. I believe heavy fines are a fine punishment for the company as a whole, however, anyone who knew about this illegal operation deserves jail time. It is a modern form of human trafficking, and anything less than years in prison is unjust.
-Rafael Charqueno
I think you answered this question really well. I completely agree with you; the workers were manipulated time and time again. The workers put their trust in people who were not acting in their favor. The men believed that the American recruiters would properly advise them, but instead, they were taken advantage of. I think the recruiters' crimes and dishonesty should be punished and should be discredited in their lines of work.
ReplyDeleteThe company used force to deceive the workers. Anytime the workers strayed from their harsh and uncompassionate expectations they were met with extreme consequences or warnings. This reflects how Signal viewed its workers and I think someone should face major consequences for the pain and trauma the workers experienced.
-Jenna Whitehead