Burning Atlanta

As for illegal immigration, the only thing worse than people that show a total contempt of this nation by breaking in or overstaying visas are those dirtbags that cheat them. This is a little skimpy, give it a few days and see what turns up, but I wouldn't be surprised if their allegations were true.

Indians ripped off

Hundreds of Indian guest workers rallied in the street Monday. The rally began uptown around 10 a.m. at the Coliseum Square Fountain.

According to a press release, 500 workers had filed a class-action anti-racketeering suit against Signal International and various recruiters, including New Orleans attorney Malvern Burnett.

"For more than one year, hundreds of Indian workers at Signal International have been living like slaves. We paid $15,000 to $20,000 to come here because we were promised green cards and permanent residency, but they lied and gave us 10-month guest worker visas instead," former Signal worker Sabulal Vijayan told an audience of domestic and international media on Thursday, March 6. "Signal knew about our debt and exploited us."

According to the release, Vijayan and 88 other workers who had “escaped” from Signal shipyards reported themselves to the Department of Justice as victims of human trafficking on Thursday and held a dramatic action at the company's shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., singing "We Shall Overcome" in their native language and throwing their hard hats en masse toward the main gate.

"I have been a guest worker all my life in many parts of the world, and I never saw such conditions. We were forced to live in company trailers, 24 men in a single room," former Signal employee Rajan Pazhambalakode said, according to the press release. "We spoke out to break this chain of human trafficking and protect future workers."

The workers' litigation team included attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Louisiana Justice Institute. Oops. Now I'm worried as to the validity of their claims.