Foreign workers under scrutiny
To report a possible mistreatment of foreign workers, call the U.S. Department of State at 202-203-7616
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Several local residents say they are worried about the kids who are occupying houses in their neighborhoods.

One local couple reported to the Gulf Breeze City Council that numerous youths, who are from foreign countries, are occupying a townhouse inside the city limits that has no furniture except for inflatable mattresses. A van with dark tinted windows sounds the horn and the workers file out to go to work, and then are returned later in the day.

City Manager Buz Eddy said the city is investigating the potential code violation and will take appropriate action. He said the violations amount to running a commercial business, such as a boarding house, inside a residential neighborhood.

"It happens every year," Eddy said, when seasonal workers are recruited from overseas. "It isn't the kids who are the problem, it's the corporations who rent the houses."

A Gulf Breeze woman who didn't want to be identified said she isn't sure the workers have electricity in their home, and that she has seen inside an open door that there is no furniture in the dwelling.

The woman said she is concerned for the well being of the workers.

Darlene Kirk of the U.S. Department of State said her office is looking into the allegations of mistreated workers who are in the U.S. under a J-1 Visa, used for those on the work travel program.

Kirk said the workers are recruited to work here and hold their own visas. The corporations have contracts to employ the workers in the U.S., but these corporations must adhere to the U.S. labor laws, paying minimum wage and overtime as prescribed. The other parameters, such as lodging and transportation, are worked out between the student and the organization that brings them over.

However, once they arrive, many of the student workers are afraid of reprisals if they seek help from someone outside the organization.

Santa Rosa Shores Margaret Cunningham says she is concerned about the welfare of the young adults who are being housed in her neighborhood, 12 to 15 at a time in one house, again with no furniture except for the inflatable mattresses. She said she thinks the kids are working 17 hours per day, and some of them have bicycles for transportation.

"There's definitely something wrong," Cunningham said of the situation.

She wants to report what she's observed, but doesn't want to get the foreign workers in trouble. She said their bosses watch them when they are talking to the locals, and she thinks they are being intimidated into keeping quiet about their living and working conditions.

Patricia Smith said she and other neighbors in the Greenbriar area are helping to provide food and shelter to some youths who were fired from their jobs for asking questions about their pay.

She said some of the workers allege they didn't receive pay stubs to document the hours they worked, and that each worker pays $250 per month in rent.

She said she's learned from her conversations with the workers that they are lured to the United States to work in the tourist industry, only to find when they arrive that they are expected to work up to 17 hours a day, crammed into crowded living quarters and intimidated by "enforcers" who she's heard scream at the workers inside the apartment complex. She said one of the workers was struck by a liaison.

Kirk said anyone observing questionable treatment of foreign workers should contact the U.S. Department of State at (202) 203-7616.