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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Michael Sainato

‘Used as cheap labor’: luxury Aspen resort abused visa program, lawsuit says

‘I signed a training program, but in reality I was just there to cover for the need of domestic labor,’ said Daniel Esteban Camas López.
‘I signed a training program, but in reality I was just there to cover for the need of domestic labor,’ said Daniel Esteban Camas López. Photograph: Grafton Marshall Smith/Getty Images

A class-action lawsuit filed by a former employee at a five-star hotel resort in Aspen, Colorado, alleges they and other workers were recruited under the J-1 visa internship program but exploited to work low-wage, menial duties rather than receive the internship training required under the visa program.

Daniel Esteban Camas López, a culinary arts student from Mexico, came to Aspen in autumn 2020 under the J-1 visa internship program. He was transferred to the St Regis Aspen resort operated by Marriott International in May 2021 to complete his internship when the hotel he worked at initially had closed for renovations after the busy winter season.

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