Stories

Every year, thousands of people – mostly underprivileged women from developing countries – come to the United States on B-1, A-3 or G-5 visas to be employed as domestic workers. They are employed by foreign nationals, diplomats, officials of international agencies such as the World Bank, IMF and the United Nations, and, in rare cases, by U.S. citizens. These international institutions and foreign embassies, as well as the U.S. government, facilitate bringing the workers to the United States but do little to monitor their treatment once they have arrived. Although these domestic workers are entitled to the full protection of U.S. labor laws, exploitation is rampant. Cases have involved not only wage and hour violations, but also physical and even sexual abuse. Some women are not allowed to leave the premises and are held as virtual prisoners in the homes they clean. The Break the Chain Campaign is a coalition of some two dozen DC-based organizations headed by the Institute for Policy Studies that advocates on behalf of these migrant domestic workers through litigation, legislative proposals, and negotiations with the US government and the international organizations and embassies whose employees benefit from the domestic worker visa program.

Recent Cases:

• “Diana”, a Ghanian elementary teacher, was brought as a domestic worker to the US on a G-5 visa by a field engineer for the World Bank. Despite her employment contract stating a 40-hour workweek, she was forced to work an average of 15 hours a day. For the first two months, she did not receive a day off. She was given $400 for 4 ½ months of her labor. To keep her from leaving the house, her employer told her she would be raped or kidnapped if she went outside. Diana escaped her situation when her employer attempted to send her back to Ghana -- she jumped out of the car en route to the airport in Washington, DC and fled to New Jersey. Through Immigration and Naturalization Services, she heard about the Campaign, which secured a lawyer and has brought a suit against her former employer.

• An elderly woman from West Africa was brought on a B-1 visa to the US to care for a family with 5 children. She slept with the four youngest children and was on call all day and night, especially for the newborn twins. She was not paid for her work. On several occasions, she was verbally and physically assaulted by both of her employers. Because she was unable to speak English, her employer was able to convince the police she was crazy and have her committed to a mental institution, where she was tied up and medicated. Local police contacted the Campaign after she escaped and the Campaign worked with the Department of Justice in an attempt to bring criminal charges against her employer. When the woman chose to return home rather than endure the lengthy criminal process, the Campaign helped obtain a plane ticket with the assistance of the International Organization of Migration and the Lutheran Immigration Refugee Service. A concerned member of the public also donated to the case so that the woman would not return empty-handed.

• One of the Campaign’s earliest cases was that of Hilda Rosa Dos Santos of Brazil who had originally come to the United States in 1979 to work for the Bonetti family on a G-5 visa. For nearly 20 years, she lived in slave-like conditions, suffering beatings from the woman of the house and receiving no pay or medical treatment even when she suffered from a large stomach tumor. She slept in a windowless basement room and was subjected to constant fear and numerous physical and verbal assaults. A neighbor contacted officials about her medical condition and the Campaign was contacted for legal help. The case was so egregious that it was eventually taken over by the Justice Department, which filed criminal charges against the employers, Rene and Margarida Bonetti, also of Brazil. In 1999, they were indicted on charges of harboring an illegal alien. Margarida fled to Brazil where she remains a fugitive. In 2000, Rene was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for violating immigration law and ordered to pay $210,000.

• An American Ivy League professor, who specializes in women's issues and economic development, brought her Nepalese domestic worker to the US from India on a B-1 visa and paid her what she called “her Indian salary” which totaled $45 a month. The domestic worker usually worked from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm, 7 days a week, with no time off. A good Samaritan contacted the Campaign and a Campaign lawyer helped the Nepalese woman leave her situation and provided legal counsel. The two women have recently reached an out-of-court case settlement.

• Yeshehareg Teffera, an Ethiopian woman, was brought to the US in 1991 by an IMF official, Dawit Makonnen, and paid a total of $1,060 for eight years of around-the-clock work. Makonnen illegally kept Teffera even after he left the IMF. In 1998, Teffera ran away and, with the help of a Campaign lawyer, has won a $342,000 judgment against Makonnen. Makonnen fled the U.S. to avoid paying the fine. Despite extensive press coverage of the case in both the U.S. and Ethiopia, Makonnen secured – at least for a time – a post at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa.

• A Tanzanian woman, working as a domestic worker for an employee of the Tanzanian Mission to the United Nations, signed an employment contract that subsequently was not followed. The employer opened a joint bank account from which the employer freely withdrew money. Over the course of 21 months, the domestic worker was only paid a total of $630. Through Campaign lawyers, the domestic worker was able to reach a satisfactory out-of-court settlement.

• Elizabeth Iguago, originally came from Ecuador to work for an IMF official but was illegally “loaned out” to an American couple. She served as a cook, babysitter, hairdresser, and personal attendant for up to 84 hours a week at approximately 50 cents an hour. The lawyers at Casa of Maryland, one of the member organizations with the Campaign, were able to assist Elizabeth with her case and settle out of court.