Immigrant nurse with a work visa says employer treated her like an indentured servant
Two months after she arrived in
The company had assigned her to live in a 3-bedroom apartment in
During that time, Selispara received
But during her two-month stay in
"All she ever really wanted was to come to this country and make money," said
Soon after Selispara landed a job on her own in
After Selispara left for
"That's scary," Pulver said, "and that alone can force you to do things that you wouldn't want to do. ... No one should feel that they owe a company for years of their life to work, or in this case even to not work and wait forever on the chance that they would get her a job."
That's not how MedPro sees it.
"We regret that her experience was not a positive one," said Caserta, who did not say how much MedPro invested in preparing Selispara to work in
"We worked with Ms. Selispara for years, at MedPro's expense, to get her ready to work in the
Foreign healthcare workers recruited from overseas to work in
"It's a really tough sector because people are afraid to talk," said Bakhshi, who first heard about Selispara's case from friends and referred her to Public Citizen for help. "They don't really have good resources in terms of who to complain to. They're very fearful of losing their income or losing their immigration status."
Pulver said MedPro had no right to threaten Selispara that they would report her for immigration fraud, and that her work visa is "portable" as long as she's working in the nursing field.
About 5,400 foreign healthcare professionals entered the
Though Selispara's case represents the experience of a minority of foreign healthcare workers, Bakhshi said the contractual commitment to work for an employer for a fixed time in exchange for transportation to
"It's not that different from indentured servants in the 1700s," Bakhshi said, though he added that foreign healthcare workers would be hard pressed to pay for their own transportation, navigate the immigration system and land a job in
But he added that intimidation tactics, like threatening to report a foreign worker legally in
"People are more scared about accessing avenues for justice," he said. "Just the general tenor around immigration right now is kind of scary."
MedPro settled the lawsuit this week, and admitted no wrongdoing. Caserta denied Selispara's allegations of forced labor and human trafficking made in a counter claim the nurse filed in response to the company's lawsuit. But as part of the settlement, MedPro agreed to revise employment contracts and adopt new policies that will better explain the commitment expected from foreign recruits.
The company also agreed to ease the restrictions it places on overseas workers while they're in
And when a worker does break a contract with MedPro, the company has agreed to cap the amount it demands in repayment at
"It basically minimizes the chances that litigation or financial demands are used to coerce people to continue working for an employer they don't want to," he said.
Pulver said a typical MedPro contract for placing a foreign nurse will charge the medical facility about
Caserta said MedPro takes a big risk recruiting foreign nurses, noting that the company's investment is almost entirely "front-loaded."
"We don't generate any revenue until the healthcare professional is working with us in the
Pulver said MedPro typically brings 500 to 600 foreign healthcare workers -- mostly nurses, but also therapists and medical technicians from
A search of the
Caserta said MedPro is just enforcing contracts in order to protect its investments.
"This is a complex and costly business with an uncertain financial return," she said. "For that reason, it is critical that MedPro can count on employees honoring the employment commitment that they make."
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that MedPro Healthcare Staffing ordered Eden Selispara to surrender her green card.
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