peonage and slavery in the 20th century

In the Fall of 2002 a strip club owner in Baltimore was arrested for importing 10 or so girls from the former Yugoslavia to work in his club. they were there illegally,and had been bought by this chap from some broker named Milakovic. I'll try and find the news story. Aopparently "poontangski(I'm not making this word up!)" is big business worldwide.

Many illegals smuggled into the United States from Asia, and even some from south of our borders, are in virtual bondage for years to the scum who bring them here. To many of these unfortunates, the very concept ot police is closely tied to corruption, extortion and violence toward the general public. Even when the victims don't fear law enforcement just for being police, they fear being extradited back to their homelands. To be returned to some of those homelands is a virtual sentence of death, certainly of punishment. To get into the United States a family may take on enormous debt that they feel obligated to pay to the coyotes who bring them here. The coyotes are not tender-hearted, and they are well armed. The victim, often with poor language skills and no support network, are at the mercy of these yahoos. The coyotes find them "jobs", and provide "food and shelter". Guess what kind of jobs are supplied? These jobs are at the bottom of our system and frequently pay far less than the minimum wage. The coyote takes most of the victim's money. First, the victim must pay for their passage, but the interest is so high that it takes years to even make a dent in the initial sum. Next, the coyote demands payment for all the "food and shelter" provided. The food may only be a watery soup, and a small handful of rice each day, but the victim will pay for sirloin on the coyote's table. The four, or five hundred dollars a month for shelter goes to give the victim a hot cot in a slum room shared with perhaps a dozen other unfortunates.

Is this slavery?

Human trafficking is one of the prime concerns of such organizations as Interpol and Europol. A Google search for 'human trafficking' should turn up a plethora of websites. There was a case in Chicago a couple of years ago, similar to the one in Baltimore which bobithob mentions. The victims here were some young women from Latvia. It was prosecuted by the US Attorney's office in Chicago. I'll see if I can dig up a link.

i am looking more for early 20th century incidences of slavery and peonage. but this is great too!! thanks. keep it coming!

Ah, the current issue of National Geographic discusses worldwide slavery, including produce pickers in Florida, this century.

I KNOW! I just got it, briefly saw that, but haven't had the opportunity to read it. My question actually spawns from a debate with a friend about the birth of the Industrial Revolution following (primarily) the end of legal United States' slavery of African-Americans. I'm more curious as to the slavery residual to the black slavery of the early part of the nation.

In December 1865, Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery.
That's a clear date.

The time of the Industrial Revolution in USA (and elsewhere) may differ from author to author, booj to book, but genaearally it's -in USA- the time between 1790 to 1860.
That's the reason for the slavery in the South:
1808 the international slave trade was abolished. However, in the USA, slavery didn't end. The South became solidly united behind the institution of slavery, since the new economic factors made slavery far more profitable than it had been before 1790 (cotton industry plus sugar cane and tobacco contributed the extension of slavery).

LordEdge - the Nat Geo article is riveting and, ultimately, extremely saddening. I highly recommend it but be aware it's quite the mood-killer.

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0309/feature1/index.html

I know, LordEdge, this is not, what you are looking for, but since this website got the "2003 Awards for the Innovative use of New Media in Africa" ... Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade (it's an eBook)