Couple Indicted for Forced Labor as Slavery Crisis Continues
PUBLISHED: Fri, AUG 18th 2023 @ 10:35 am EDT by Jared Culver
Harmanpreet Singh, 30, and Kulbir Kaur, 42, were indicted for conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, alien harboring for financial gain, and document servitude. The acts were in connection with their gas station and convenience store where, from March 2018 to May 2021, they allegedly forced Singh’s cousin to work. The indictment has all the greatest hits of previous forced labor stories, with the confiscation of immigration documents, physical abuse, threats, and degrading living conditions. The couple also harbored their victim after his visa expired so they could keep up the scheme.
These forced labor stories keep piling up as examples of the banality of evil. From Boston pizza shop owners to Michigan blueberry farms, these cases of exploitation of foreign workers demonstrate the levels people will sink to for a slightly higher profit margin. There are people willing to steal lives and liberty for a few dollars and cents.
The couple indicted in the most recent case were operating a gas station in Virginia, where the Department of Justice (DOJ) also indicted a laundry business earlier this year for forced labor, including of a previously trafficked child. Often, the focus is rightfully on big businesses exploiting large numbers of workers with wage theft or wage suppression schemes. However, the small business abuses are also worthy of attention. Where there is less focus and lower stakes, some of the worst abuse is coming to light.
https://www.numbersusa.com/blog/couple-indicted-forced-labor-slavery-crisis-continues
