Allegations of farm worker abuse investigated

Source: MSNBC/AP

NEW ORLEANS - The FBI confirmed Wednesday it was investigating allegations that a Louisiana farmer fired shotgun blasts over Mexican guest workers’ heads, exposed them to pesticides and paid them less than minimum wage.

The abuse allegations were outlined in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by immigrant rights organizations on the workers’ behalf.

The lawsuit accuses Charles “Bimbo” Relan, owner of Bimbo’s Best Produce, of forcing the workers to toil in strawberry fields in Amite, La., about 75 miles northwest of New Orleans. Relan also confiscated the workers passports so they would not flee, the lawsuit claims.

-----

According to the lawsuit, Relan oversaw fieldwork carrying a shotgun and fired it over workers’ heads “on occasion.” He also shot a stray dog to death that workers had befriended, according to the lawsuit.

Relan did not spray the pesticides on workers, but in a proximity that “vapors from these pesticides came into contact with plaintiffs’ skin and mouths,” according to the lawsuit.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28165454/

I know that I don't want to be paid less than minimum wage, be kept prisoner, have my pets killed, and get shot at. Huh.... yep... we just must need immigrants to do these jobs.

Well times are bad, people will now take lower jobs. But pesticides and shot guns are out for most of us.

Because we all know how many US citizens would willingly work under these conditions....right? Maybe someone should actually think about how desperate these people must be to agree to come to work for these wages, not even taking into account the other abuses, just the "wages". And somehow I have a hard time believing many of them had passports because if you have a passport you know you can go to the police to get help. This guy needs to be tossed in jail and put on a chain gang for a few years.