Farmworker Legal Services
Servicios Legales Para Trabajadores del Campo

3030 S. 9th Street, Suite 1A
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49009

Tel: (269) 492-7190
Fax: (269)

492-7198

January 4, 2016
Chris Gonzalez
Foreign Labor Certification Officer
U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Foreign Labor Certification
Chicago National Processing Center
11 West Quincy Court
Chicago, IL 60604-2105
Telephone: (312) 886-8000
Via email to TLC, Chicago – ETA SVC
<tlc.chicago@dol.gov>
Re:

Vasquez Citrus and Hauling H-2A Job Order, D.O.N. 2/15/16

Dear Ms. Gonzalez:
My name is Lucy Benz-Rogers and I am writing on behalf of Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan.
As legal advocates for farmworkers throughout Michigan, our office has witnessed the recent dramatic
increase in H-2A workers in our state. It has recently come to our attention that Vasquez Citrus &
Hauling, a Florida-based Farm Labor Contractor, has placed a job order to begin on 2/15/16. I am
attaching to this email a PDF of the related job posting from the Michigan state “MiTalent” job bank, as
well as this direct link: https://jobs.mitalent.org/job-seeker/job-details/JobCode/6440159. The
posting includes a link to a proposed ETA 790, with amendments made by the Michigan Foreign Labor
Certification Officer. I am writing to raise concerns that we have regarding Vasquez Citrus & Hauling
(“Vasquez Citrus”) in light of this upcoming order.
Liability for Bus Accident
On November 6, 2015, agents of Vasquez Citrus were transporting workers on a bus through Arkansas
when a tragic accident occurred. Six H2A workers from Mexico lost their lives, and other passengers
were injured as well. The bus had recently been purchased by proprietor Juan Vasquez for Vasquez Citrus,
and was driven by his brother Roberto Vasquez.
Under 20 C.F.R. § 655.122(h)(4), the employer was required to maintain the same level of liability
insurance as mandated by AWPA, or $100,000 per seat. For the 47-seat bus, a minimum of $4.7 million
in liability insurance should have been in force. In fact, the bus was covered by a $1 million policy. I am
including a copy of the Vasquez Citrus vehicle insurance policy and the police report. Furthermore, the
police report indicates that the driver Roberto Vasquez did not have a commercial driver license.
We are extremely disquieted by Vasquez Citrus’s apparent lack of compliance with regulations designed
to ensure the safe transportation of their workers. While the cause of the accident and any negligence that
may have contributed to it is a separate issue that will hopefully be investigated and dealt with
accordingly, at the very least Vasquez Citrus’s lack of compliance with these laws and regulations is likely

www.FarmworkerLaw.org
A division of Michigan Advocacy Program

 to limit the ability of the surviving workers and the families of the deceased from obtaining the relief and
remedies to which they may be entitled.
In the proposed ETA 790, Vasquez Citrus states that it will provide its proof of insurance to the Regional
Administrator before certification is granted. Given the recent accident and Vasquez Citrus’ lack of the
required AWPA insurance coverage, we hope that the proof of insurance and other required
documentation regarding their vehicles and drivers will be reviewed very carefully prior to certification to
ensure they are complying with applicable laws and regulations.
Confiscation of Documents
We were contacted in October 2014 by a former employee of Vasquez Citrus who was brought to
Michigan to work in the same Monroe, MI area where the upcoming job order is located. Upon arriving
in Michigan, an agent of the contractor demanded the worker’s passport with H-2A visa inside and his I94 form. According to the employee, Vasquez Citrus made this same demand to all the H2A workers. The
worker who contacted us requested approximately four times that the documents be returned to him, but
was told that they were “unavailable” and had been sent to Florida. It was not until we requested the
documents from Vasquez Citrus on his behalf that they were sent to our office to be forwarded to the
worker. Withholding such documents could be considered a serious instance of criminal activity. The
confiscation of these documents could rise to the level of Labor Trafficking, and we have referred the
worker’s case to the DOL Detroit District Office, who in turn referred it to the Tampa Wage and Hour
office. At the time of the worker’s employment and the confiscation of his documents, the penal sections
of the Michigan Compiled Laws that define the crime of Forced Labor stated that, “A person shall not
knowingly subject or attempt to subject another person to forced labor or services by knowingly
destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing an actual or purported passport or other
immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another
person.” M.C.L. § 750.462e. This statutory language was in effect prior to amendments effective January
14, 2015; the current Forced Labor statute continues to define the confiscation of such documents as
illegal coercion rising to the level of Forced Labor. M.C.L. § 750.462a(c)(iii). The language of pre-2015
M.C.L. § 750.462e regarding passport confiscation also mirrors federal anti-trafficking statutes,
specifically 18 U.S.C. § 1592. In short, passport confiscation is illegal both under Michigan and Federal
laws prohibiting trafficking and forced labor. This is repeated in 20 C.F.R. § 655.135, which states, “the
employer may not hold or confiscate workers' passports, visas, or other immigration documents.”
We are extremely concerned about the continued operation in Michigan by an FLC who engages in
Forced Labor vis-à-vis the illegal confiscation of identity documents such as passports. Furthermore, the
withholding of such documents was part of a general practice of isolating the workers. The workers were
only given 1 hour per week to stop at a store for personal necessities and other personal business. The
former employee who contacted us stated that he once asked his crewleader if they could make an
unscheduled stop at a store because some of the workers needed to buy certain provisions. The crewleader
told him they could not stop, and warned him that because he didn’t have his passport and visa with him
he should not go off anywhere on his own or else he could get picked up by Immigration. This worker felt
so isolated and trapped during his employment with Vasquez that he feigned illness in order to be left
alone in the workers’ housing, and then fled the worksite. At the time that he left the housing, he still had
not received his passport or visa. His documents were returned only after we contacted the employer on
his behalf. He has since confirmed with his former H2A coworkers that their documents were only
returned after he fled. These coworkers also fled the employment within the week or so after he left due to
the poor working conditions and treatment.
Terms of Employment

 The proposed ETA 790 states that there will be a 1-week probation period from the date of hire to learn
and perform job duties as required by the employer. It is unclear what the standards and conditions
imposed upon workers during the probation period will be, and we are concerned that it would allow for
extraordinary demands on the part of the employer similar to unreasonable production standards that have
previously been challenged in similar H-2A job orders.
The job posting also lists the expected weekly hours as 36 hours per week and states that Sundays will be
free. However, the former Vasquez Citrus worker who contacted us stated that he worked Sundays this
past fall, and his paystubs show that he typically worked between 80-90 hours per week. Similarly,
domestic workers from the 2015 season reported that they were sometimes told that they were free to
leave after a certain hour, or were not needed for work at all on a certain day, but they would then receive
a “write-up” for their absence or were chastised for being “lazy” and “leaving early.” They were told that
they would be fired if they received 3 write-ups, a disciplinary policy which is not disclosed in the
proposed ETA 790. These arbitrary write-ups are particularly concerning because they were directed to
domestic workers, and they could have a chilling effect on the very labor force that is supposed to have
the first chance to fill (and ideally keep) these jobs.
Furthermore, the grounds for termination from Vasquez Citrus listed in the ETA 790 under “Other
conditions of employment” on page 9 are extremely broad and give the employer a huge amount of
discretion to terminate workers unjustly. For example, a worker may be fired for failure to demonstrate a
“willingness to perform necessary work,” for malingering or otherwise refusing direction (this is
particularly concerning given the arbitrary write-ups for absences mentioned above), or simply for “other
job related reasons.” An H2A worker from the 2015 growing season reported working upwards of 100
hours in certain weeks and working in extreme and unsafe weather conditions, all because he was fearful
of being fired. These very broad conditions of employment would allow Vasquez Citrus to pressure the
workers into working extremely long hours and under conditions that they otherwise object to, except for
the threat of termination.
We ask that your office take these concerns into consideration and carefully review the pending Vasquez
Citrus job order to ensure that it complies with relevant laws and regulations, and that there are no similar
abuses of workers in the future. To best of our knowledge, the Wage and Hour Division offices in Tampa
and Detroit are also currently conducting investigations of Vasquez Citrus’ operations, and are in the
process of recovering significant back wages for previous Vasquez Citrus employees.
We also ask for a timely response informing us of any actions taken or recommendations made by the
Chicago National Processing Center.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this request.
Sincerely,
s/Lucy Benz-Rogers
Attorney
lbenzrogers@lsscm.org
Encl: MiTalent Job Code No. 6440159
CC:

Gerry Aranda, arandag@michigan.gov
Feliciano Paredes, paredesf@michigan.gov

 Enclosures