Highlandgee:
Goodluck Nwauzor fled Boko Haram militants in Nigeria only to end up cleaning showers for $1 a day while housed at one of the United States’ largest immigrant detention facilities.

Goodluck Nwauzor and other detainees at the Northwest ICE Processing Center were paid a $1 per day regardless of how many hours they worked in various cooking, cleaning, laundry and maintenance roles, if they were paid at all; some detainees were paid with candy or other snacks, according to court records.

Now his testimony has helped convince a federal jury that GEO Group, which runs the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., violated the state’s minimum wage laws.

“I feel so great, and I thank almighty God, who made it possible,” Nwauzor told The Washington Post. “I really appreciate the jury’s decision.”

The decision on Friday means Nwauzor and other detainees will receive individual awards ranging from $7 for a single day worked, to more than $30,000 in the instance of a detainee who worked almost 700 days, according to Adam J. Berger of the Seattle-based Schroeter Goldmark & Benderorthat, the law firm representing Nwauzor and the other detainees.

“Before I came to America in 2016, I was a very good business guy,” Nwauzor said. “I left Nigeria because my life was at risk.”
He traveled to Central America and made his way to Mexico before presenting himself at a port of entry in California and was eventually moved to detention center in Tacoma.

There, he signed up for the work program in hopes of earning money to send home, or buy items from the commissary, where everyday necessities tend to be at least twice the cost as in a grocery store.

For part of his eight-month detention, he was tasked with cleaning a “stinking” five-stall shower facility used by 50 to 60 men each day, disinfecting the walls and clearing the drains.

“At the end of the day, I got one dollar,” he said. He was unsure of his options and described those in the program as feeling powerless and like they were treated like “animals” or worse.

He said most of the guards assumed the detainees in custody were criminals.

“My friends said, ‘Goodluck, don’t go, don’t go!’ But I have to do it,” he said of his decision to turn to the court system. “I have to speak up. I can’t stay silent.”

Nwauzor’s attorneys called the jury’s award “precedent-setting,”

Source: https://www.facebook.com/AfrotimesNewspaper/photos/a.119381757440035/126067163438161/

DaniDani:
Is he that nairaland Igbo guy that has scores to settle with both boko haram and security agents, that was crying out here sometime in 2016. I read the post here, please can someone confirm if he's the one?

1stGenAmerican:
He is a prisoner who is in the country illegally but is complaining about being paid $1 a day for work? Where else can he earn money while being detained?

Highlandgee:
Goodluck Nwauzor fled Boko Haram militants in Nigeria only to end up cleaning showers for $1 a day while housed at one of the United States’ largest immigrant detention facilities.

Goodluck Nwauzor and other detainees at the Northwest ICE Processing Center were paid a $1 per day regardless of how many hours they worked in various cooking, cleaning, laundry and maintenance roles, if they were paid at all; some detainees were paid with candy or other snacks, according to court records.

Now his testimony has helped convince a federal jury that GEO Group, which runs the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., violated the state’s minimum wage laws.

“I feel so great, and I thank almighty God, who made it possible,” Nwauzor told The Washington Post. “I really appreciate the jury’s decision.”

The decision on Friday means Nwauzor and other detainees will receive individual awards ranging from $7 for a single day worked, to more than $30,000 in the instance of a detainee who worked almost 700 days, according to Adam J. Berger of the Seattle-based Schroeter Goldmark & Benderorthat, the law firm representing Nwauzor and the other detainees.

“Before I came to America in 2016, I was a very good business guy,” Nwauzor said. “I left Nigeria because my life was at risk.”
He traveled to Central America and made his way to Mexico before presenting himself at a port of entry in California and was eventually moved to detention center in Tacoma.

There, he signed up for the work program in hopes of earning money to send home, or buy items from the commissary, where everyday necessities tend to be at least twice the cost as in a grocery store.

For part of his eight-month detention, he was tasked with cleaning a “stinking” five-stall shower facility used by 50 to 60 men each day, disinfecting the walls and clearing the drains.

“At the end of the day, I got one dollar,” he said. He was unsure of his options and described those in the program as feeling powerless and like they were treated like “animals” or worse.

He said most of the guards assumed the detainees in custody were criminals.

“My friends said, ‘Goodluck, don’t go, don’t go!’ But I have to do it,” he said of his decision to turn to the court system. “I have to speak up. I can’t stay silent.”

Nwauzor’s attorneys called the jury’s award “precedent-setting,”

Source: https://www.facebook.com/AfrotimesNewspaper/photos/a.119381757440035/126067163438161/

Golan007:
Criminal.

You fled Boko Haram but didn't go back to Anambra, instead you left for Amelica.

Good in business my foot.