Three Tri-City residents are among four individuals indicted for allegedly obtaining temporary work visas under false pretenses and bringing 500 workers from Mexico to eastern Washington between 2022-24. 

Erica Cisneros and husband and wife Francisco Rodriguez Martel and Esmerelda Rodriguez, along with Giovanna Sierra Carrillo of Yakima, are now facing a 51-count indictment for allegedly illegally obtaining H-2A visas and exploiting foreign workers they brought into the country, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Washington. 

Operating as a labor contract business called Harvest Plus, the four individuals allegedly submitted paperwork to multiple agencies claiming that about 10 agricultural operations in Benton and Yakima counties needed temporary foreign labor during the 2022, 2023 and 2024 crop seasons. Those documents, filed with the U.S. departments of Labor and State as well as with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, included bogus job locations, hours and wages and coverage for worker injury or illness. 

The defendants than recruited foreign laborers in Mexico with guarantees of legal employment along with promises of housing, food, paid travel and visas. Those workers instead were forced to perform non-approved domestic labor, work overtime without pay and in extreme heat without access to water and while being exposed to pesticides without protective equipment, the U.S. Attorney’s office claims. Some were housed in overcrowded conditions, with Rodriguez Martel requiring illegal mandatory housing and food fees. 

“When bad actors exploit vulnerable workers or attempt to game the system, we investigate, we expose, and we hold them accountable,” said Anthony P. D’Esposito, Department of Labor Inspector General, in a statement. “At the same time, we safeguard the U.S. employers who follow the law and play by the rules. We will continue working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to ensure these programs serve legitimate labor needs – not criminal enterprises. Fraud will not be tolerated. Accountability is not optional.” 

The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service worked with federal labor officials in the investigation. The case still must be presented to a federal jury to determine whether the defendants will be convicted or not.