Western Iowa Tech Settles Human Trafficking Lawsuits

Western Iowa Tech Community College has agreed to settle two years-long federal lawsuits alleging the school conspired with others to engage in human trafficking.

Dr. Terry MurrellIowa Public Radio reported that the community college agreed to pay over $5 million to settle two federal lawsuits, one settlement worth $3 million and the most recent worth $2.3 million as accepted by its board.

The lawsuits — one filed on behalf of students from Chile and the other filed (and most recently settled) on behalf of students mostly from Brazil — alleging Western Iowa Tech Community College engaged in human trafficking. The college was accused of procuring visas for the students to enroll in the school’s international education program but steering them to work in the processing plants, from which portions of their paychecks were used to reimburse the cost of the program.

“We got too deep into something we were not overly familiar with, and we didn’t do a good job,” Western Iowa Tech President Dr. Terry Murrell told reporters. “And not doing a good job certainly had implications to those students. And, to those students, I would say, ‘We wish you luck and hope you are able to pursue your education and career goals.”’