Arkansas Federal Court Dismisses Lawsuit Filed by Farmworker Wrongfully Detained by ICE
Plaintiff Previously Settled Claims Against U.S. Government and Former Employer for $135,000
Jonesboro, AR – On December 1, 2022, Arkansas federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Jeandre Fouche, a South African formerly employed on a visa for agricultural workers at Gairhan Farms Inc. in northeast Arkansas, after the parties reached a settlement agreement.
The lawsuit brought by Mr. Fouche alleged that while working at Gairhan Farms on an H-2A visa in 2018, he told his bosses that he intended to take another H-2A job in North Dakota. The H-2A visa program allows foreign workers to work on American farms for a set amount of time, the length of an agricultural season. It also allows workers whose H-2A visas are still valid to apply for, and go to, other H-2A jobs in the country, if they submit the proper paperwork. Farm president Wayne Gairhan and his two sons all falsely told Fouche he could not legally leave his job because he had not completed enough of the contract term.
Although Mr. Fouche had filled out the proper paperwork to start his new job, the Gairhans contacted the Department of Homeland Security and falsely reported that Mr. Fouche had fled the job without legal authorization. That same day, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer came to the Gairhan farm, where Mr. Fouche was living, and arrested Mr. Fouche for violating the conditions of his visa, ignoring evidence that he had properly applied for a new job. Mr. Fouche spent 39 days (about 1 and a half months) in detention and thousands of dollars in legal fees before an immigration judge ruled that Mr. Fouche had lawful immigration status and could remain in the U.S.
Mr. Fouche brought claims against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States, the ICE officer who arrested Fouche, Gairhan Farms, and three Gairhan family members. Under the settlement agreements, the defendants paid Mr. Fouche and his attorneys $135,000.
Mr. Fouche was represented by Southern Migrant Legal Services and Arkansas law firm Green & Gillispie. Southern Migrant Legal Services, based in Nashville, Tenn., is a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid that represents farmworkers throughout the South.
Dylan Bakert, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid who represented Mr. Fouche, said “It’s not uncommon for an employer to threaten arrest or deportation in response to an H-2A worker asserting their legal rights. We hope this settlement sends a strong message that imprisoning or detaining an H-2A worker attempting to leave his job is unlawful and costly.”
"It is absolutely critical that H-2A workers have the right to leave their employers, either to return back to their home country, or to begin a new H-2A position if they have completed the steps necessary to transfer. Our firm is committed to protecting the rights of H-2A workers. We will continue to stand for workers who are threatened with arrest or deportation by their employers, or like in Mr. Fouche’s case, are wrongfully arrested, and detained by the U.S. government,” added Amal Bouhabib, an attorney with Southern Migrant Legal Services.
Southern Migrant Legal Services, a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), provides free employment-related legal services to migrant farmworkers who work in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. For more information visit www.trla.org
Contact: Julia Fourt, Public Relations Manager - Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, jfourt@trla.org