ABSTRACT
Latino workers have been particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking into New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast. Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Gulf Coast states already had a growing Latino population. Before Katrina, Latinos made up 4.4 percent of the overall population in the New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The sudden change in demographics and the dire financial circumstances of local residents led to a rising fear that migrant Latinos would "steal" jobs from resident New Orleanians. It was not only the suspension of worker protection legislation that created the ideal scenario for human trafficking in the Gulf region. Employers seeking inexpensive labor could call upon international recruiters to stock their labor pools with international guest workers under the provisions of H-2B. It also aims to bring attention to guest worker exploitation and the occurrence of debt bondage and indentured servitude that has resulted from lax enforcement of labor law.
