Thread: Workers on Hunger Strike Say They Were Misled on Visas

(Note the picture of the receipt--it's for $2550 NOT $20,000.)

Workers on Hunger Strike Say They Were Misled on Visas



Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
Reji Davis, center, and other workers from India on a hunger strike on Embassy Row in Washington. They say they were promised permanent residency.

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: June 7, 2008
WASHINGTON — About a dozen metalworkers from India staged the fourth week of a hunger strike here this week, camped under a shade tree on Embassy Row.



Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
One of the workers with a copy of the receipt showing his payment for work in the United States.

The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program. The hunger strike is meant to pressure federal officials, and comes as Congress is debating an expansion of the guest worker program, known as H-2B for the type of temporary visa the workers receive.

The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States. In fact, the H-2B visas are for short-term contracts.

“Everyone has a dream,â€

10 -1 odds the America tax payer is the one that gets screwed on this debacle.. these companies need to be sued blind by the tax payers of this nation as well as these workers. THIS IS NOT HOW YOU GET CITIZENSHIP.

I AM FED UP WITH THESE SCAMS

NONE of these workers bothered reading the rules about these temp visas? They paid the money on blind faith? We have a saying for that.. BUYER BEWARE! They got scammed, sue the recruiters, take the money and go home. Americans get scammed every day, we don't sue the government for our poor judgement.

They KNEW it was too good to be true, why didn't they check it out first? As they said, they'd worked as temp laborers before and were not allowed to bring their families. That's exactly what TEMP means, not permanent. The US consulate would have told them there was no way to get a green card with a temp visa. Sorry, but no dice. When the visa expires, you need to go home.