On Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan visited with members of the Illinois Coalition on Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to hear first hand experiences of immigrant workers being cheated, abused and physically harmed.
One worker described how a wealthy home owner hired him and a few other immigrant workers to do 3 weeks worth of labor around his home. The worker described the home owner by name and described him to be a "millionaire". When the work was done the home owner refused to pay for the services of the workers.
Ms. Madigan brought attorneys from her office to meet with victims after the conclusion of the testimonials. After the formal program concluded I had a chance to meet with Ms. Madigan. I was introduced to Ms. Madigan by Joshua Hoyt, Executive Director of ICIRR, as the Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
I spoke with Ms. Madigan about similar abuses within the immigrant South Asian communities involving nannies and housekeepers. These workers are regularly overworked and underpaid. Whereas the workers in the live testimony today were Latino men, the South Asian workers are often women.
The Illinois Attorney General should investigate this type of case as well. Of course, the challenge will be getting victims to step forward.
Here is a snippet of the testimony:
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