Staffing firm supplying Haitian migrant labor to Charleroi food factory under investigation
By isabelle // 2024-10-15
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Authorities found and seized nearly $1 million in cash during their investigation of a staffing firm that has been shuttling Haitians to a food factory in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Situated in Washington County, the town has been a talking point in former president Donald Trump’s presidential campaign after he drew attention to the Haitians that have been “invading” it – and, not surprisingly, they are being sent there to provide cheap labor. According to local media, authorities had been looking into Prosperity Services, a staffing firm known for supplying cheap migrant labor to the company in question, Fourth Street Foods. The company currently has 700 immigrants on its payroll who hail from a total of 41 countries, although most of them are from Haiti. These workers man the conveyor lines in an industrial freezer, putting together sandwiches and breakfast bowls that are sold in retail stores under private labels. Many of the frozen food supplier’s 1,000 employees work on the assembly line, putting in long days in very cold working conditions. Prosperity Services was contracted by Fourth Street Foods to supply labor and transport workers in vans that are often seen in the surrounding area. The company pays the Haitian workers $12 an hour and bills Fourth Street Foods more than $16 per hour to cover expenses such as transportation and overhead. According to federal investigators, the company "knowingly paid undocumented non-citizen employees with cash" and "transported and housed undocumented non-citizens for employment purposes." However, they are not the only company engaged in these practices. Reviews of video footage and interviews with Haitian migrants employed by Fourth Street indicate that three staffing agencies are serving as conduits for labor there. They include Celebes Staffing Services, Advantage Staffing Agency and Wellington Staffing Agency. None of these companies have official websites or publicize their services, nor do openings show up in publicly available job listings. Although Fourth Street Foods has acknowledged that it depends on agencies to provide its staff, they were not willing to divulge which agencies they work with, claiming the need to honor non-disclosure agreements. The owner of Fourth Street Foods, David Barbe, said that he does not know anything about the situation and that his company requires the labor agencies they contract with to hire legal immigrants.

Charleroi's immigrant population has grown by more than 2000%

According to CBS News, the immigrant population in Charleroi has spiked by more than 2000 percent during the past two years. It has gotten to the point where the majority of the students in local public schools needing help with English hail from Haiti, and the district has already shelled out $400,000 on teachers and interpreters to support them. One resident complained: "You can't even walk through the town without being next to them or them pestering you about something," adding that they make him feel uncomfortable. Several other residents told the media off camera that they no longer go downtown due to the immigrant influx, and some are even planning to move elsewhere because of it. Local business owners are noting declining revenues as people stop shopping downtown due to concerns about crime as well as apprehension over the disregard many of these migrants have for local driving laws. Unfortunately, this same scenario is playing out in many other small towns across the U.S. The Biden -Harris administration’s open borders policy, with support from publicly funded NGOs, is bringing in a steady stream of migrants to provide cheap labor and boost their voter base while making American citizens feel uncomfortable in their own towns. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com WTAE.com CBSNews.com
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