Signal International

Quick Summary

Signal International LLC was a marine and fabrication company based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, that became the subject of one of the largest and most significant labor trafficking cases in United States history. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Signal recruited approximately 500 Indian guest workers through the H-2B temporary visa program with promises of permanent residency and good working conditions. Instead, the workers were subjected to what federal courts and a civil jury determined was a systematic pattern of fraud, debt bondage, and forced labor.

The workers had paid recruiters between $10,000 and $20,000 each in fees, enormous sums that many financed by mortgaging family homes or taking high-interest loans, based on false promises that their temporary visas would be converted to green cards. Upon arrival in Mississippi, they were confined to overcrowded, unsanitary labor camps on Signal’s property, charged $1,050 per month for the privilege of living in these conditions, had their passports and immigration documents confiscated, and were told they would be deported if they complained.

In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a landmark lawsuit on behalf of the workers. In 2012, recruiter Sachin Dewan was convicted of federal fraud charges. In 2015, a federal jury in New Orleans returned a $14 million verdict against Signal International; one of the largest labor trafficking verdicts in American history.

Timeline of Events

The Details

The Post-Katrina Labor Demand

Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast in August 2005 created an enormous demand for skilled labor, particularly in the shipbuilding and oil and gas industries. Signal International, which operated shipyards in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Orange, Texas, needed hundreds of skilled welders, pipefitters, and marine workers to repair damaged oil platforms and vessels.

Rather than recruit domestically at competitive wages, Signal turned to the H-2B temporary guest worker visa program, which allows U.S. employers to bring in foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural jobs. The H-2B program has been repeatedly criticized by labor advocates for creating conditions conducive to exploitation: workers’ legal status is tied to their employer, creating a power imbalance that dishonest employers can exploit.

The Recruitment Fraud

Signal engaged a network of recruiters to bring workers from India, primarily from the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The key intermediary was Sachin Dewan, who coordinated with India-based recruiting agents and U.S. immigration attorney Malvern Burnett.

Workers were told they would receive permanent residency (green cards) through their employment with Signal, a promise that was fraudulent, as H-2B visas are temporary by definition and do not provide a pathway to permanent residency. Based on these false promises, workers paid recruitment fees of $10,000 to $20,000 each. Many mortgaged their family homes, sold property, or took out high-interest loans to pay these fees, creating a debt burden that constituted classic debt bondage.

Conditions in the Labor Camps

Upon arrival at Signal’s facilities, workers discovered that the promises of good working conditions and permanent residency were false. They were housed in labor camps on Signal’s property; fenced, guarded trailer compounds where as many as 24 men were packed into trailers designed for far fewer occupants. Workers described the camps as unsanitary, overcrowded, and prison-like.

Signal charged each worker $1,050 per month for this housing, deducted directly from their wages. Workers had their passports and immigration documents confiscated by the company, a classic indicator of human trafficking recognized by international and federal law. Signal management told workers that if they complained about conditions or attempted to leave, they would be reported to immigration authorities and deported, a threat that was especially potent given the enormous debts the workers had incurred to get to the United States.

Retaliation and the Hunger Strike

When workers began organizing to protest their conditions in early 2007, Signal responded with retaliation. On March 9, 2007, Signal detained Indian worker Sabulal Kumar after learning he had contacted a lawyer. The company called immigration authorities and attempted to have Kumar deported. Other workers who participated in protests were similarly threatened.

Several workers staged a hunger strike to draw attention to their conditions. The SPLC and other legal organizations intervened, and the workers were eventually able to contact legal advocates who would bring their case to federal court.

The Landmark Verdict

The SPLC’s federal lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana, alleged violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and civil rights statutes. The case was one of the first to use the TVPA’s civil provisions to hold a major U.S. corporation liable for labor trafficking.

In February 2015, a federal jury returned a $14 million verdict against Signal International; finding the company liable for labor trafficking, fraud, racketeering, and discrimination. The verdict validated the workers’ accounts and established important legal precedent for holding employers accountable for labor trafficking facilitated through guest worker visa programs.

Signal International subsequently filed for bankruptcy, and the case resulted in additional settlements with other defendants involved in the recruitment scheme. The workers who had been granted T-visas were able to remain in the United States and eventually pursue lawful permanent residency.

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