A federal jury last week convicted a Texas woman of illegally harboring undocumented Mexican women and forcing them to work as slaves in her home cleaning business for nearly a decade and a half. According to a
statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Olga Sandra Murra, 64, was found guilty of two counts of forced labor and two counts of "harboring an illegal alien."
Born in Mexico, Murra moved to the United States in 1997, bringing with her a woman identified only as "V.R." as she settled first in El Paso, and then Forth Worth, according to ICE. The following year, Murra arranged to have another woman, identified as I.G., transported into the U.S. She kept both women's identification documents.
Once in the country, both women were put to work by Murra, cleaning "three to four homes per day up to seven days per week," ICE said. They were also required to clean Murra's personal residence and cook her meals, despite being fed only bread and water themselves. They were not paid for their labor and were forced to turn over all money and earnings from their house cleaning to Murra. For a short time, Murra also provided I.G. with false ID papers, allowing her to take several service industry jobs alongside her home cleaning work.
Comment: See also: Every step fraught with danger: Refugee children face beatings, rape and forced labor along with risk of drowning