Naples Daily News 11/19/97

Farmworker Slavery
This time, justice wins

Two Southwest Florida farm labor recruiters will get a taste of their own medicine. Convicted in federal court of slavery- hauling illegals from an Arizona border town and holding them against their will in South Carolina labor camps until they paid off transportation and job finder's fees- the men from Immokalee and LaBelle were sentenced last week to 15 years apiece.

The outcome is significant for at least two reasons:

* It says mistreatment of anyone, even an illegal alien, is wrong in America.
* It shows the rewards of persistence by two Immokalee organizations- the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which first reported the abuses to Florida Rural Legal Services in 1992- the power of pursuit by federal agencies including the FBI and INS.

Injustice for the most vulnerable members of society diminishes justice for all.

That makes decisive closure of this case especially satisfying.

Right wins.