CNN is reporting today that federal agents raided a slave camp filled with homeless persons in Florida. Specifically:
Four people, including the camp’s owner, Ronald Evans, face federal charges in a case that officials said is likely to grow. Investigators are looking into alleged environmental violations and drugs found at the camp in Friday’s raid.
“The word is out that we are concerned about human trafficking, and we will leave no stone or camp unturned,” said Steve Cole, a spokesman for Jacksonville U.S. attorney Paul I. Perez.
Officials said homeless people were recruited to the Evans Labor Camp through offers of room and board, along with alcohol, tobacco and drugs, which they bought on credit. But they never made enough in the field to pay it off, according to an investigative summary.
More below the flip, including: Does Jeb Bush know this is happening?
I think an interesting question to be asked is, in a state the size of Florida, how are the Governor’s office and/or state law enforcement agents not aware of something like this? Too busy holed up in Pinellas Park, interfering in the private life choices of law-abiding citizens, were they? Too busy imposing their religious mores on others to discover that there are homeless people being held in slavery in a drug-infested labor camp?
I am no investigative journalist and don’t have the time right now to become one, but I think the question of whether Jeb knew/should have known about this camp would be a very interesting research topic. This will be especially true if he is going to run for office in the future, and does anyone really doubt that will happen?
Update:
Okay, despite my “not a journalist” disclaimer above, I had to do just a bit of research to figure out why Jeb wasn’t aware of this. What I learned is that migrant worker slavery in Florida was no secret.
For instance, columnist Bill Maxwell in the St. Petersburg Times reported on it in 2002, specifically ending his column with a shout-out to Jeb for help:
In reality, 136 years later, “modern-day slavery” is alive and well in the nation’s agricultural states, and Florida is a leader in the exploitation of human chattel, with five slavery cases having gone through the courts in as many years.
. . . . . .
Under this system, growers hire contractors, who then hire the pickers, keep track of them, house them and pay them. Everyone, including the governor and his emissary, knows that this egregious loophole lets farmers off the hook. Sure, Lee is behind bars, and the Ramoses may be on their way there. But rest assured, the farmers who hired them have replaced them with crew leaders.
Laura Germino, a representative of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, identifies the root of the problem: “It’s time now that the agriculture industry take a look at itself and decide that it’s not going to operate under the rules of the past and continue beating and holding workers by force.”
The time has come for Gov. Jeb Bush to step up and put his moral weight behind this worthy crusade.
In the event that the St. Petersburg paper flies too low under Jeb’s radar, he could have learned from CNN in 2004 about the massive slavery problem in his state, in the story titled (quite subtly): “Report: Modern-day slavery alive and well in Florida.”
Update:
If a one-time article wasn’t enough to catch Jeb’s attention, the Palm Beach Post produced an excellent series of stories on the subject, reporting:
The crowning irony of this Florida modern-day slavery problem is found in this New York Times story from a few days ago (before this weekend’s Florida slave-camp bust), in which it was reported:
The four countries are among 14 “Tier III” nations that the State Department said had a serious problem with trafficking in persons and made little or no effort to control it, despite prodding from the United States. Citation as a Tier III country can trigger economic penalties.
“Trafficking in human beings is nothing less than a modern form of slavery,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at a news conference introducing the government’s fifth annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
Update: Someone commented in this thread on DKos that it is unfair to say that Jeb has ignored this problem, claiming that he has given many speeches on the topic, including one at an anti-modern slavery conference. In that speech, the Jebster, nothing if not a humanist, called out Castro for permitting forced prostitution in Cuba. His courageous speech is discussed in this story, which is tellingly titled, “Bush Speech on Human Trafficking Targets Castro” . . . way to point the finger, Jeb! If I may beg to differ with the commenter, I don’t really call that taking a stand to solve the problem of the slave industry in his own state. Jeb is certainly capable of doing more than speech-giving and finger-pointing on the topic, especially given his demonstrated ability and willingness to send out state troopers to reinsert a feeding tube in Terri Schiavo, as discussed in this story.
How do you like them apples, folks?
So, does anyone think this will affect Jeb’s political prospects? Feel free to muse below!
Cross-posted at DKos
