Mr.
Schiff: Hi, welcome to "FBI 100, A Closer
Look." I'm Neal Schiff of the Bureau's Office
of Public Affairs along with FBI Historian Dr.
John Fox. John, we talked about Civil Rights cases
and FBI investigations. Early in 2001 there was
a case out of Hawaii involving a textile firm?
Dr.
Fox: "Yes Neal, our Honolulu Division began
investigating a company called the Daewoosa Company
which operated a garment factory on American Samoa
and had been using laborers from Vietnam."
Mr. Schiff: What was going on inside that
plant?
Dr. Fox: "Our investigation revealed that
the managers and owners of the plant were forcing
their workers to pay a smuggling fee in order
to have them brought to American Samoa and then
actually get a job. So they were denying them
their civil rights because they did not have freedom
to move; they were prevented from holding their
passports and so not being able to leave; and
of course they were being extorted, to some extent,
within the company itself. This is similar, Neal,
to those peonage cases that we mentioned last
week where the FBI, in its earliest days was investigating
managers who were forcing people to work for them
to pay off a debt."
Mr.
Schiff: John,
what is the FBI's role in Civil Rights situations?
Dr.
Fox: "We are the only federal agency with
jurisdiction in enforcing our federal civil rights
laws. And so our role is crucial because in those
situations where our fellow citizens and those
guests in our country are being treated in a manner
that denies them their rights, the FBI is the
agency that has to go in there and help to ensure
that they receive justice."
Mr.
Schiff:
If anyone feels their civil rights are being violated,
call the nearest FBI office. Our phone number
is in the front of your telephone book. From the
FBI's Public Affairs office, along with Bureau
Historian Dr. John Fox, I'm Neal Schiff with "FBI
100, A Closer Look."
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