Unfortunately, in Montana tragic cases of labor trafficking have occurred.
Andrew Yedinak the supervisory agent within the Montana DOJ human trafficking unit explains labor trafficking in Montana.
“We’ve worked cases where yes there’s migrant workers from the southern border being brought up to Montana, they are working for a sub-contractor that will gain employment with a legitimate contractor or construction company. We see a lot within the drywall industry, but they’ll be brought up here, they’ll be taken to a home where there might be 20 or 30 other individuals that are living in one portion of this house, maybe the basement, and the individual is being expected to pay a ridiculous amount of money to live in a very small, confined area of that basement. They are being charged to utilize the restroom, being charged to utilize the kitchen. When it is time to go to work the trafficker will charge them for transportation to the job site. Often times the trafficker will provide the tools for them to use at the job site, and in turn charge them for that, and then also garnish their pay. So, it gets to a point where the individual may have agreed to work at a job where they’re making 30 dollars an hour, but at the end of the day they’re making a fraction of that if not even owing the trafficker by the end of the day. That is a common one we see.”-Andrew Yedinak
