Indian H2B visa workers imprisoned, enslaved in Gulf Coast
by Signal H2B Employees Organization Sunday, Mar. 11, 2007 at 6:19 AM

A Mississippi company imprisoned its workers in a pre-dawn raid Friday morning, holding six workers against their will. As of Friday afternoon all six workers had been released from captivity by the Signal corporation. Following is a Letter from "Signal H2B Employees Organization", the organization of H2B guest workers from India working for Signal International, LLC.

(IMPORTANT: Please note that the following letter was written while the six workers were still imprisoned by the company, and that they have since been released.)

We are more than 300 Indian workers in Pascagoula, Mississippi. We came here from different parts of India with “H2B visas� to work as welders and fitters. Our employer is Signal International LLC, a marine fabrication company in Mississippi and Texas.

We paid $15,000 to $20,000 to come to the United States. We paid this money to a US lawyer working on behalf of the company and to Indian recruiters. We have proof of this payment. For some of us, this is a lifetime of earnings in India. We all sold our property and our houses to come and work for Signal.

In India we were promised that we will be getting green cards and permanent residency. This was not true. We were given temporary H2B visas which expire on July 31. We do not know if we will be extended on a new visa. We cannot recover the money we have spent on the visa in less than two years.

We have been treated like animals here. We have been threatened with termination and salary reduction. We are living in isolation. Visitors are not allowed in the camps. We live 24 men in one container, with two bathrooms for all of us. We cannot make any complaints to the company.

Last month, one of our fellow workers from Punjab was threatened with termination and was about to be sent back to India. The situation gave him so much stress that he had a heart attack. We collected money ourselves to the send the body back to India.

Even with these threats, we have formed a committee to protect ourselves from the company. We are SIGNAL H2B EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATION. But the company is not in agreement with this.

Early this morning, the company conducted a raid in the camp. Company representatives came with armed security guards and took six workers. The company locked the workers in a room and told them they will be sent back to India. One of our fellow workers ran into the bathroom. Guards ran after him. This man had sold all of his possessions for this visa. When he came out of the bathroom his arm was bloody – we believe he attempted suicide. He was taken to the hospital.

Right now the workers are still trapped in the room. While you are reading this, 200 of us are standing outside the room where the workers are locked up. We are monitoring to ensure that the company does not force these workers to go back to India. We have collected 150 signatures on the spot. We have formed this committee here to defend ourselves.

We are dictating this urgent message to a friend on the telephone while we wait for the police and company.

Please call Signal International ask make the following demands on our behalf:
· Stop the illegal firing of these the workers.
· Release the imprisoned workers immediately.
· Reinstate the worker who was driven to suicide.
· Return the money we paid to the company through agents to come to the United States – $15,000 – 20,000
· Give us human standards of food and accomodation.
· Assure us that we will be paid at $18.50 as hour as promised.

The phone number is (228) 762 0010.

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