A human-trafficking lawsuit against an Iowa community college has survived a round of legal challenges and is proceeding in federal court. (Photo courtesy of Western Iowa Tech Community College)
A human-trafficking lawsuit brought by 14 international students from Chile against Western Iowa Tech Community College has survived a round of legal challenges and is proceeding in federal court.
The school and other defendants are accused of working in concert to entice impoverished students to leave their home in Chile and come to Iowa, where they were placed in “debt bondage” working at a food-processing plant and dog-food factory.
The Sioux City college allegedly procured visas for the Chilean students to enroll in the school’s international education program, then steered them to work in the processing plants. The college diverted money from students’ paychecks to reimburse the school for the cost of the program, the lawsuit claims.
The defendants in the case, all of whom have denied any wrongdoing, include the college; several of its employees; Tur-Pak Foods, which runs a food-processing plant in Sioux City; Royal Canin USA, which runs a dog-food factory in North Sioux City, South Dakota; and J & L Staffing and Recruiting, which allegedly helped place the students in the two plants at the behest of the school.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2020, recently survived a broad array of legal challenges mounted by the defendants. Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the...
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