Feds Indict Five in Georgia Agricultural Visa Fraud Scheme
Prosecutors say the defendants demanded payments, confiscated passports and used threats or violence to control H-2A workers.
- On Tuesday, federal authorities unsealed indictments in the Southern District of Georgia against five individuals accused of exploiting the H-2A visa program to smuggle foreign nationals into the United States.
- Prosecutors allege the group demanded improper payments from workers, 'lied' about employment conditions, and confiscated identification documents to force laborers to remain in the country after their visas expired.
- Three of the accused—Martha Aquino, Julio Cervantes, and Marco Cervantes—were arrested this week, while Evangelina Aquino De Galvan remains at large and Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez is in federal custody.
- Beyond fraud charges, authorities claim the defendants threatened or used violence to control workers, with Romero-Lopez also facing 'unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien,' authorities said.
- Designed to help farmers fill seasonal labor shortages, the H-2A program is facing broader federal scrutiny as prosecutors identify similar visa fraud conspiracies in at least 21 states.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Federal Indictment: Labor Traffickers Used H-2A Visa Program to Exploit Foreign Workers
A federal indictment was unsealed this week, revealing an alleged labor trafficking scheme out of Georgia where a group of defendants is accused of using the H-2A visa program to import foreign farm workers whom they then abused, stole from, and exploited.
Feds indict five in Georgia agricultural visa fraud scheme - The Daily Bo Snerdley
(The Center Square) – The Trump administration continues to crack down on visa fraud and human smuggling involving agricultural workers. The latest indictments were unsealed in the Southern District of Georgia on Tuesday against five Hispanic adults, including a Mexican national in the country illegally, on charges of exploiting an agricultural H-2A visa program involving smuggling illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. Three of the indicted …
Five Indicted In Georgia Over Alleged Farmworker Visa Fraud And Smuggling Ring
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Georgia have unsealed a superseding indictment charging five individuals in a scheme to fraudulently secure foreign agricultural worker visas and smuggle people into the United States. According to court filings, Martha Aquino, 61, Evangelina Aquino De Galvan, 49, and Julio Cervantes, 38, all of Alma, Georgia; Marco Cervantes, […] Five Indicted In Georgia Over Alleged Farmworker Visa Fraud And Smug…
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