Visa Fraud: A Harrowing Look
- unwillingcargo
- Nov 14, 2021
- 3 min read
14 November 2021
Pelle Munoz
Though trafficking doesn’t discriminate between its targets, it specifically undermines the globe’s most vulnerable communities. Looking at the U.S. and its complex history, it can be observed that immigration is a big point of contention for most.
Regardless of this fact, it should be noted in these conversations that trafficking shouldn’t be boiled down to political talk or a topic of division. Every person is only so far removed from being vulnerable to trafficking. This is because of techniques made to create a victim pool, which have been narrowed down by the DOJ as ‘force, fraud, or coercion.’ These are devices that have been used countlessly to extort people or exploit their labor. Each of these tools are unique, but ‘fraud’ is an intersection of deception, withholding information, and false promises. It is particularly devastating to those who have placed their trust in a person or system who is invested in their involuntary servitude.
Source: IStock
One of the most notable of these forms is visa fraud, which singles out immigrants, foreign workers, and refugees. One of the most infamous examples of visa fraud in action is the enslavement of 53 Indian workers by a Tulsa company in 2001.
The John Pickle Company, Inc. was a parts manufacturer/steel fabricator for power plants and oil refineries. The company was established in 1972 by John Pickle in Tulsa, Oklahoma. JPC would eventually employ hundreds and expand to a seven-hundred thousand square foot manufacturing facility. A joint venture with a Kuwait oil company ushered in a wave of employees from India, which led to JPC’s order for them to continue their employment in Tulsa.
In order to receive the green light for the required B-1 training visas, JPC would have to appeal to the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. This wasn’t particularly difficult for them, and the visas were issued shortly thereafter. They were said to be successfully processed in the span of one day, even. What would follow would be one of the worst international cases of visa fraud and labor exploitation to be reported.
Source: Shutterstock
They knew that, according to visa guidelines, the employees technically could not come to the United States to engage in productive employment or be employed/paid by a U.S. company. JPC engaged in a purposeful “legal” deception by lying about the nature of the “employment” on paper. The workers were documented as “trainees” on paper and were paid by a third party- The John Pickle Company’s employee recruiting firm.
JPC, despite being unwilling to pay a living wage to its Indian workers, encouraged them to take on as much overtime as humanly possible. The Indian “trainees” were then paid between $1-3/Hr., while non-Indian employees were paid around $14/Hr. for the same amount of labor (and at the same skill level). The company lied to hires about the nature of the benefits they were to receive upon employment.
“He told me that my basic salary would be $800/month and that I would receive food, accommodations, medical treatment, insurance, and transportation free.”
- Toofan Mondal, JPC Employee
JPC confiscated and withheld the employee’s passports and immigration documentation before crowding them into warehouse ‘dormitories.’ They were confined in the warehouse and were not permitted to leave. Prajapati, one of the workers directly involved in the suit, recounts a confrontation he had with a warehouse guard.
“He took the gun out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was very scary. I thought if somebody cannot leave without permission, then maybe he can shoot somebody."
Intimidation, deceit, and exploitation were the norm for JPC until a 2003 lawsuit forced them to close their U.S. operations. With the help of the church, the 53 Indian workers were able to leave JPC and begin their ongoing fight for justice.
The workers still have not received their rightful wages, but the suit would come to set the standard of how to deal with cases like this.
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