Thread: AFrican immigrant turns [illegal] niece into family slave

From the Sunday Oregonian- December 18-
Couple accused of turning niece into family slave
Force labor - The teen came from Morocco to stay with relatives and get an education
Sunday, December 18, 2005
GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE -- A teenage Moroccan girl who came to Washington state in hopes of getting a good education and becoming a dentist was instead kept as a slave by her aunt and uncle, who pulled her out of school and forced her to work without pay at the family's espresso stand, the FBI says.
Abdenasser Ennassime, also known as Sammy, was arrested at the espresso stand, Lake City Perk, in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, and his wife, Tonya, was arrested at their home Friday morning, one day after a federal grand jury indicted them on one count of forced labor and one count of harboring an alien. The girl, now 17, has been living in a safe house.

The indictment reveals few details about the case, but an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in a related matter shows what authorities think happened:

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The girl, Lamia Ennassime, came to stay with her aunt and uncle at age 12 in September 2001, with the understanding that she would help care for their young son and help with the housework in exchange for lodging and a chance for a good education. She made breakfast and dinner, did laundry, cleaned the house, and worked weekends and summers without pay at the espresso stand.

In March 2004, Sammy Ennassime read her diary, in which she complained about being mistreated. Furious, he punched her three times in the face and withdrew her from school, seven months into her freshman year, the affidavit said. He forced her to work more at the espresso stand, sometimes 12 to 14 hours, and confiscated her tips -- about $5,000 in all -- under the threat of reporting her for being in the country illegally.

In an interview with The Associated Press during the FBI's investigation, Tonya Ennassime said she and her husband had treated Lamia lovingly, as their own daughter, and that they were terribly hurt by her unfounded allegations. The couple were released on their own recognizance following an initial appearance Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tacoma; their lawyer said the girl made up the allegations as a way to remain in the country.

Lamia ran away from the couple's home this summer, and her father -- Sammy Ennassime's brother -- came from Morocco to look for her. He thought the FBI had secretly detained her, and he filed a lawsuit against the agency, the Lakewood Police Department and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, trying to discern her whereabouts.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction in September; none of the agencies sued had custody of the girl.

But one filing in that case included an affidavit for a search warrant by FBI Special Agent Eric Mueller, who wrote that the Ennassimes were under investigation for their treatment of Lamia. Mueller wrote that Sammy Ennassime had covertly recorded her conversations, and that after reviewing surveillance videos from the espresso stand he complained that she spent too much time talking to male customers.

Sammy Ennassime became a U.S. citizen in 2003; it was not immediately known whether Tonya is a citizen. The government appears to have no interest in deporting Lamia.

"Victims of human trafficking should not be concerned about contacting law enforcement, because the U.S. government is not interested in deporting them and will work with them to obtain legal status," FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said.

Why are Sammy and his wife here running an "espresso stand" to begin with? Did we need people to open "espresso stands"?

God help us. Our immigration policies make absolutey no sense at all.

This is not human trafficking. That is ridiculous. They were wrong to pull her out of school, but they were wrong to accept her in their home to being with. The parents apparently back in Morroco were wrong to ship her here.

Revoke their citizenship and deport them all, the whole kit and kaboodle back to Morroco, a culture they understand and belong to.



We do not have the tax dollars to spend on this stuff...this is expensive FBI, ICE, prosecutors, investigators, judges....who do think pays for all this?

WE DO. Stop this insane nonsense.