Slavery Makes a Comeback

From the newsroom:

“Five Immokalee [Florida] residents will plead guilty in federal court this afternoon to numerous charges of enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, brutalizing them and forcing them to work in farm fields. . . . The 17-count indictment in the case ‹ one of the largest slavery prosecutions Southwest Florida has ever seen ‹ was released in January. It alleges that for two years, Cesar Navarrete and Geovanni Navarrete beat agricultural laborers, chained them up, locked them in boxes and trucks on the family property while keeping them in ever-increasing debt.

Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy has called it `slavery, plain and simple.'”

This is not really news.  Beginning with the increased enforcement efforts of the 1990s, there long have been increasing reports of human trafficking, indentured servituede (as smuggling fees increased), and slavery.

KJ