Gina Agulto and Kevin Koliner

[00:01] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, my name is Kevin Colliner. I'm 45 years old. Today's April 12, 2021. I'm in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I'm talking with my friend Gina Goto. Gina and I first met when I was a federal prosecutor on a labor trafficking case in which Gina was one of the victims in the case. She and I have maintained a friendship over the years about what, about almost 15 years that have followed since that case. And so today, I consider her to be my friend.

[00:38] GINA AGULTO: Hi, I am Gina Aguulto. I actually turned 48 years old today, April 12, 2021. I am in Tomball, Texas, and I'm talking to my friend Kevin who I methe when I testified for the government as a victim of this human trafficking case that we are going to be talking about today.

[01:06] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, Gina I reached out to you wondering if you wanted to be involved in this project, because I saw a notice that StoryCorps was seeking some folks to talk about their experiences as being survivors of human trafficking. And I immediately thought of you because your story is a remarkable one, and you've had a remarkable experience since that case way back when. I'm just happy that you've agreed to tell us your story and kind of the wild and crazy way that you and your family have now become citizens of the United States all the way from their home in the Philippines. I wonder if you might start by just telling us how you first decided to come to the United States to work in a hotel in a little town of Oacoma, South Dakota.

[02:08] GINA AGULTO: Well, first of all, it's definitely a pleasure, and thank you for reaching out to me and letting me know about that opportunity, because as I told you, I've always shared my experience with anybody who would ask about how we are able to migrate to the United States. It's a story that probably some people are not going to be proud of, but I am proud of it because we are where we are right now because of it. But this all started when I was in the Philippines working for a hotel back there. I was a food and beverage manager for this five star hotel. This couple were guests at the hotel, Robert and Angelita Faro. They were guests at the hotel, and they actually, upon checkout, they were looking for me. At first, I thought I handle all the complaints and customer complaints, and I was actually off that day and was like, why would you call me? I'm off. You know, just take their complaints, and I'll probably reach out or whatever. But anyway, it was an offer. They wanted to, like, hire me as a hotel manager. And they said they own a hotel in Oakoma, South Dakota. And I was like, oh, wow. And I was like, well, at that time, I was actually pregnant with my youngest child. So I said, well, thank you so much for the opportunity, but I know a lot of people who would be like, who would be very qualified and who would jump at any chance of, you know, going to the United States. And. But I said, I can't do it right now. But they were like, you know what? We're going to wait or whatever, and we'll reconnect. Well, I forgot about this offer, but they actually reconnected. But to cut the story short, they were able to get approved for an h two B visa, and that's a.

[04:13] KEVIN KOLINER: Temporary visa that allows foreign workers to come and work at certain locations in the United States, correct?

[04:21] GINA AGULTO: Right. It's temporary. It's like, for a short period of time and basically seasonal. So for this trip, it was actually winter. So it's like hunting season in South Dakota. So the hotel is pretty much really for, you know, the hunters. They stay there. So that was the first trip. That's when we first came over.

[04:48] KEVIN KOLINER: So for the listeners of this program, one thing that I think is interesting about your story is you were a hospitality professional in the Philippines. And so, you know, you're educated person, you had a. A career there, and you also had a family. And it must have been a very difficult decision to leave your home to come to the United States. What were the reasons that you even would have considered coming to a place so far away?

[05:25] GINA AGULTO: First of all, sir, the Philippines is a third world country. Anybody who would be given a chance to go overseas and work somewhere else, especially earn dollars, would jump at that opportunity. It was hard to leave my three little children behind because back then, the youngest was just a year old. But I was like, this is it. This is the chance to do something good or better for the family to secure the future.

[06:02] KEVIN KOLINER: It was, especially at that time, it was pretty common for parents to travel abroad to work and leave their children behind in the Philippines, isn't that right?

[06:11] GINA AGULTO: Yes, that is very correct. We have a lot of, in the population, you would know every family that would have somebody working abroad to support their family.

[06:23] KEVIN KOLINER: Who cared for your kids when you came?

[06:26] GINA AGULTO: My husband and my mom, who was staying with us as well since pretty much when we got married. So I was like, I know that my kids are in good hands. They're well taken care of. So I think that pretty much helped with the decision making. Okay. That I'm gonna do this.

[06:45] KEVIN KOLINER: I know you've shared with me in the past that one tough thing was leaving your kids behind and that you said your kids had kind of bonded with your mother.

[06:56] GINA AGULTO: Yes. When they're sick, they don't call out for mom, they call out for grandma. That's how close they got to my mother, because I had to be away to work. And even prior to this, I was working long hours at the hotel just to make sure, you know, because if I would tell you how much it is equivalent to the dollar, how much we were earning back there, you would be like, what? You just earned that for working that long hours? But, um.

[07:29] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, and I, um. When you then worked out the details with the ferals to come to the United States, you were promised a lot of good working conditions, weren't you?

[07:41] GINA AGULTO: Yep. Definitely. Um, there was actually, like, a contract. Um, it was. It was like, uh. Like a dream come true, like, oh, my God.

[07:50] KEVIN KOLINER: Um, they agreed, I think, to. To pay for your travel. Right?

[07:54] GINA AGULTO: Pay for the travel free accommodation. That would be. We would pretty much just work and earn money. Earn dollars. You know, every Filipino, when you hear the word dollars, oh, my God, this is it. This is, like, what's gonna be it for our family?

[08:14] KEVIN KOLINER: I remember they had. They even promised, like, holiday pay and overtime. And it was kind of a standard work contract, right?

[08:22] GINA AGULTO: Yes, yes. But unfortunately, none of that was followed when we first got to Okoma, the first night our passports with our visas were confiscated. Well, at that time, they said it's for safekeeping that they're gonna like.

[08:44] KEVIN KOLINER: I'm sorry to interrupt, Eugenia, but when you say we, you weren't alone, right? There were other folks from the Philippines.

[08:51] GINA AGULTO: Yes, there were. If I remember it right, there were nine of us for that first trip. So when we got there, as I said, it was the first warning sign that I noticed. Why would they take a hold of our visas? Because before we left, we were told, always have your visa with you because that's your only form of identification. It's the only way you can prove to anybody that you are there lawfully. But they took that for safekeeping. And then we were housed in this two bedroom apartment. All nine of us with a bedroom would have, like, three beds. So this is my personal experience. I was sharing one bede with another filipina lady. So we would like. Hey, tonight you sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the couch. I mean, on the floor. And then tomorrow we'll switch. Just so you know. She and I would have, like, a little bit of comfort.

[10:07] KEVIN KOLINER: Most people don't know where oak coma, South Dakota is, but it's a. It's almost a dead center in this, in the state of South Dakota. So a long ways from any large city. When you flew in, there must have been a long drive to get to this place. It's basically a hotel off of the interstate, correct?

[10:28] GINA AGULTO: Yes. It was winter. We've never experienced winter. We were all excited, actually, when we got off the plane to see snow and all that, but. And then it turned into like a long, dark highway.

[10:43] KEVIN KOLINER: What were your thoughts at that time? It must have been a frightening time.

[10:48] GINA AGULTO: I was really like, it's like uncertain. It's like, where are we going? Like, it's in the middle of nowhere. Cause my idea of like, a hotel, based on my experience, you know, like, it's where there's really, like a lot of people. Like, I wasn't expecting it to be in the middle of nowhere with what I understand back then was like 300 population. So it was pretty scary, like isolated. We are far from everything, pretty much.

[11:22] KEVIN KOLINER: When you started working, what kind of hours did you find that you were expected to work?

[11:31] GINA AGULTO: I was supposed to be working the front desk. I would work like the graveyard shift, but I would still help out with a housekeeping job. We weren't really, like, working the usual 8 hours. We would, like, be asked to help do other tasks in the hotel.

[11:59] KEVIN KOLINER: Before we started talking today, I look back at some of the evidence from the ultimate trial. And I saw your time, cardinal, and I noticed that there were days when you would work from midnight until 05:00 p.m. the next day at the hotel. Was that pretty common, 17 hours shift?

[12:19] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir, that's pretty common. And that's just for the hotel.

[12:23] KEVIN KOLINER: Right. And so when you started working then, did you found out they also wanted you to work at a Burger King across the parking lot? Right.

[12:32] GINA AGULTO: Yes. And that was like within the, probably the first 48 hours, we found out that, you know, we were going to work at Burger King across the street because it's going to be another form of income for us. And we found out down the line that that's going to be the only form of income, actually, because whatever we're earning at the hotel, whatever we work for at the hotel, is going to go back to the owners, to the.

[13:04] KEVIN KOLINER: So one feature of this case was that you had all of these. You discovered when you got here that you had all these debts that you owed. The pharaoh's claim that you owed.

[13:17] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. So if I could revert back to the contract. Before we left the Philippines, they were supposed to pay for the transportation, the airfare, the processing fee for the USCIS, which was, like, one time. But what happened was, instead of dividing that among the nine of us, we were charged each for that. I believe it was $1,200, if I remember it right, or $1,100. Instead of dividing that among the ten, the nine, it was $1,100 per person.

[13:50] KEVIN KOLINER: And then they added all sorts of other things to the debt. Right. It was gas money for the drives, parties.

[13:58] GINA AGULTO: Like, we would have birthday parties, and we're like, oh, it's so nice of them to celebrate birthdays for some of the. The people who were in the trip, they would. There would be, like, birthday cakes, but then here comes the debt meetings, and it will be, like, listed, like, birthday cake or whatever they bought.

[14:17] KEVIN KOLINER: So they would. They would give a. They would bring a cake out when someone had a birthday, and then they would charge everyone for the cake and put it on the debt contract. And then you were charged for that. Nine people to one, two rooms apartment.

[14:35] GINA AGULTO: Yes.

[14:35] KEVIN KOLINER: There was rent charge there, and there were just all sorts of other debts that kept getting added to that bill. Right?

[14:43] GINA AGULTO: Definitely. Photographs. It would take photographs, give us copies of it, but it would be, like, listed on, you know, the debt contract.

[14:54] KEVIN KOLINER: So in the end, even though you were working 17 hours a day at the hotel, your debt kept getting higher, didn't it?

[15:03] GINA AGULTO: Yes. Yeah, it kept. Something gets added every time. We would have debt meetings. We call it debt meetings because that's the only reason they will call for a meeting, to make sure, you know, this is how much you owe us. This is how much you need to pay.

[15:19] KEVIN KOLINER: In those meetings, they were, like, in the middle of the night, weren't they?

[15:22] GINA AGULTO: Yes. It was, like, out of the whims. Like, not. None of it was, like, prescheduled. It would be like, okay, we're gonna have a meeting, like, ten at night or eleven at night, and it would last for, like, one in the morning, two or three.

[15:36] KEVIN KOLINER: And this was on top of your 17 hours workday, right?

[15:40] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. No. No question whatsoever. Like, who's gonna work tomorrow? What time do you have to get up to work? None of that.

[15:51] KEVIN KOLINER: One thing that most people, I think, would struggle to understand in this country is why that contract, that debt contract was so important and so frightening to you and the other folks working there.

[16:07] GINA AGULTO: It's part of our filipino culture. And I guess whenever that debt contract was presented to us and we had to sign it. That signature there means a lot. It's pretty much your life. You're, like, bound to it, if I can say that.

[16:32] KEVIN KOLINER: So in the United States, debtors prisons have been outlawed for some time. But that wasn't the case in the Philippines.

[16:39] GINA AGULTO: No, sir. In the Philippines, you can go to jail for a debt that's not paid, especially in this case. It's in a. It's written down. It's in a contract and you sign it.

[16:50] KEVIN KOLINER: And Angelita Ferrell's from the Philippines. She knew your culture and knew about that.

[16:56] GINA AGULTO: She does, yes. Yes, sir. She knows that we, like, if you did something for me, like them trying, you know, like, at first, they were really, really nice people back there. So we are, like, indebted for them for life. Not just monetary, but, you know, part.

[17:17] KEVIN KOLINER: Of the process for, you know, the way that the bureaucratic system controls against this is that when you receive these kind of visas as an employer, you have to then show the embassy that you have, you know, paid people, that you have actually followed through as an employer, and you have to present some evidence that you have paid people. One thing that was interesting about this case is the ferals actually had all sorts of records showing that they issued you and the others paychecks. But tell us about what happened with those paychecks.

[17:59] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. So on our second interview with the embassy, prior to us going in, this was like probably an hour before they had us in a, like a room, and they were handing out this pay stubs. Paychecks. And they were like, this does not get out of this room. You're going to show this to the console that these are paychecks that you got. And these are like, what the heck? I haven't. I have not seen this paycheck in my, you know, when we were back there. So they had, in essence, they made us present that to the council just to make the impression that we were actually making money. We were actually paid really good money. And that's the main reason why we are wanting to go back, that it was, you know, like, it was really a positive thing for us. But those were fraudulent checks. We've never seen those.

[19:01] KEVIN KOLINER: And I remember that part of the evidence at trial was that those paychecks that were written out to you and the other workers were ultimately signed over and deposited right back into the hotel's account. So in other words, they'd hand you a check, you'd sign it and then take it back, and. And you'd never see that money.

[19:24] GINA AGULTO: No.

[19:25] KEVIN KOLINER: But even. Even with that your debt kept going up. The. What I want to kind of turn to is ultimately, you and others reported what was going on there and the fear and isolation that you felt about that.

[19:51] GINA AGULTO: So, as I said, I decided to go back, like, for the second trip because of the amount of money I still owe them.

[20:00] KEVIN KOLINER: Plus, maybe we need to clarify that part of the visa issue was that it runs out at a certain point and you're required to return home to the Philippines. And then you and some of the others then applied to come back. And in a trial, everyone talked about the only reason was that you had these massive debts hanging over your head.

[20:27] GINA AGULTO: Exactly. They won't stop emailing you or calling you about how we're going to be able to pay them back. So I decided to, like, join the network again.

[20:39] KEVIN KOLINER: They had ties and family and influence within the Philippines, right?

[20:43] GINA AGULTO: Yes.

[20:45] KEVIN KOLINER: Decide to come back.

[20:47] GINA AGULTO: It's basically because of the debt contract, sir. I barely paid to some of it in for the first trip. It was, I would say, maybe one third of what's on there.

[21:00] KEVIN KOLINER: Even after working that many hours.

[21:02] GINA AGULTO: Yes.

[21:03] KEVIN KOLINER: Turning over all or most of the money. Almost all of the money.

[21:08] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. It was like, there is no way I'm going to be able to pay them back if I don't go back. Like, because they said the second trip is going to be better. It will be like, in season, it's not winter. It will. You'll be able to, like, have lots of hours, lots of jobs everywhere. But as soon as we landed, same thing. They got our passports with our visas. They. We were living in that same accommodation, like, same conditions. Pretty much nothing changed. It didn't really get that busy at the hotel at that point.

[21:49] KEVIN KOLINER: So I'm sorry. Let's talk about when you decided to report what was going on there at that hotel. And then there became a federal investigation that you became involved in.

[22:06] GINA AGULTO: So I kept really close correspondence with my husband. He knows everything that's happening. There was, like, talks among the, like, three other Filipinos that I was close with. Some of them are thinking of running away just to get away from this crazy situation. And was like, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna jeopardize and do anything unlawful in this situation. So I was like, I talked to my husband, and our decision was for me to go home. And we found a way. I told them that my mother is very sick, I need to go home. And for some reasons, which up until now, I'm still thanking God, I'm still asking for forgiveness. This is I did a white light, but I was allowed to go home, but not until I signed another promissory note or letter or whatever it is that I'm coming back and I'm going to be paying them back whatever I owe them. And I was asked to work a 24 hours shift before my flight, before I was taken to the airport. I was. I did not get a hold of my passport and visa up until I was boarding. Pretty much that's when I got ahold of it. And you can, you can imagine the freedom I felt. But as soon as I landed in the Philippines, I went to the embassy. And because I'm like, I'm free, I'm back, but I'm not completely free because I signed this debt contracts. I'm still indebted to them and this other Filipinos left behind who are. I'm not sure what's going to happen to them. I'm so worried about them. That was my main reason for going into the embassy. And that's when I, I got introduced to senior ice agent Julian Briola, who kind of like, started the ball rolling from that end, because I know you guys, you and the ice agents here also, like, started the ball rolling on your end. But that's how it all started, actually, on my end, I thought that was it. I let the authorities know, somebody starting to listen. That was like a very emotional moment for me when I met Julia, Mister Briola. It was emotional and freeing at the same time because somebody now is listening. And I knew at that time, at that moment, we are on the right track with this.

[24:57] KEVIN KOLINER: So ultimately, when what was going on at that hotel was discovered, there was a multi agency investigation. There was a search warrant executed at the hotel. There were a variety of documents that were discovered, including all these debt contracts. In fact, the US Department of Labor went in and did a wage and hour analysis and found that there were some workers there that were working as many as 130 some hours a week at the hotel. We found the records of all of these. We called it the paycheck Merry go round, where checks would be written and then handed back and these debts would keep increasing. And then federal charges were brought. There were a number of federal charges brought. And the ferals proceeded to a jury trial. And you testified in that trial and talked to the jury about your experiences. You came back from the, we brought you back from the Philippines. You had gone home at that point. Tell us about that experience of being a witness in a federal trial and having to confront the folks that had done all of this to you.

[26:19] GINA AGULTO: At first, I was a little scared, if I should use that word. It was very uncomfortable to be in the same room again with the people who pretty much caused this nightmare in my life, in my family's life. But whenever I met you guys, you, the rest of the team. Craig Shear, marla's big eagle, charlotte Romayo. I can't remember the rest of the team.

[26:55] KEVIN KOLINER: Michael Frank was counsel at trial. Yeah, from the civil rights division of the department of justice.

[27:02] GINA AGULTO: How can I forget him? He actually came over and interviewed me in my little island province in the Philippines. But I felt confident and I felt safe because that was the main. That was just the main concern of my husband, if I'm going to be safe coming back. But with all of you guys, I knew at that point that the US justice system is working. It's going to work, and it did. In this particular case, sitting in that witness stand, I was able to tell my story. It was painstaking, but I was able to tell it the way that it happened. And with all these people listening and the right people listening. Actually, we knew at that time we were telling it to the right people because we were too scared before to even speak to anybody, because we were isolated, they isolated that we could not have friends. We're not allowed to ask for rides even in the middle of snowstorm during the first trip. It will be, like, taken against us if they find out that somebody had given us a ride. They said, don't be friends with anybody in the area. People can do harm to you. Not knowing that, that's their way of isolating us. So we can not really, like, ask for help or tell other people what's going on.

[28:39] KEVIN KOLINER: One memory that I have, I don't know if you remember this, but it was after the trial, and the trial was in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and then you had to get transported after you testified to another town. That was about, oh, I think, 3 hours away drive. And you and I made that drive together way back then. I remember we were talking about how, you know, there is a visa that's available for people to apply for if they were a victim of a human trafficking offense. And so it was on your mind about whether you were going to go home to the Philippines and just never again come back to America or whether you were going to make that difficult decision and apply for that visa to become ultimately a citizen and perhaps bring your family over as well. Do you remember our talk that night?

[29:39] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. Almost like it just happened yesterday. It was. It was a very hard decision to make at that point, because with what my family went through, my husband and my children, it was so scary to take that risk of whether I should stay and, you know, take that opportunity of availing of that visa and the possibility of them coming over because of what happened. It was just a scary decision to make. But then I also remembered us talking about, what kind of life are we going to be able to build here with that opportunity? Like, especially the education that my kids can have out here and the job opportunities that we can have. And I'm so glad that I made the decision to stay.

[30:41] KEVIN KOLINER: So that was about, oh, what was it? Maybe 13 years ago or so? And I remember part of that discussion. I was saying to you, Gina just imagine in future years, your kids will be, like, moving into their college dorm and their roommate will be saying to them, well, how did your family get to the United States? And they'll say, well, you're not going to believe it, but it's quite a story. This is what my mom went through. And I remember we were talking about that and kind of laughing about it. But tell us about what's happened with your life and your family since that night, sir.

[31:23] GINA AGULTO: It's been. It's been great. I can say we are living the american dream. Since my family got here, they started going to school here. Two of our older kids graduated from the University of Texas in Austin. They both have bachelor's degrees now. And our middle child is actually getting ready to go to med school, hopefully in the fall. You can only imagine, like, whenever my husband and I would be sitting down and we would be, like, looking back at what happened in our lives, what brought us here. We can still, like, you know, we're still kind of, like, in disbelief of how things turned out. But I told him, it's really true. When your only purpose in life is to do what is right, everything else will fall into place. Had I made the bad decision of staying and running away whenever we were talking about that with other Filipinos at that point when we were trying to decide versus going home and actually taking the route of bringing my complaint to the us embassy there, it would have been maybe a different story. But it's been great. You can only imagine when my kids were writing their college essays.

[32:54] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, I also remember that I got a call one day from you saying that, asking if I would be a reference for a job that you were applying for. And I got then a call from your current employer. We don't have to say who you work for now. But your current employer essentially asking me, it was a team of people that had interviewed you, and they were sort of in disbelief that the story that they'd heard was true. And I had to tell them it was. And I remember telling them, well, there are few people that I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they're a hard worker. But I said, this woman, the US Department of Labor has certified that she can work 120 hours in a week. I can't imagine that there's anyone who will outwork her. But you've now had a successful career and are in the midst of a successful career, and your husband is a success as well, in his work, and your kids are, too. And tell us about your mom, the one who cared for those kids back when they were little babies.

[34:16] GINA AGULTO: So this is another thing that kind of, like, is the result of all that we've gone through and, you know, just doing the right thing, pretty much following the right procedure and trusting the system. I can happily say that my petition for my mom for an immigrant visa has been approved. We're just waiting for an interview at the embassy because of everything that's going on right now that has been postponed. But we can't wait for her to join us here and to finally be with her grandkids, who, as I said, pretty much she took care of these kids from birth till when they were ready to migrate. And we just can't wait for her to come over and join us. But going back to what we've experienced, like not being able to control your own money, having to explain to people how are you going to spend your money? Having to ask people for rides or having to walk through snow and this crazy weather, you can only imagine what we felt when we bought our house, when we finally have our car to go to work and get that paycheck and be able to spend it the way we would spend it for our kids, and not being told you cannot buy that, you cannot spend it on that. You cannot send that to your kids at home, because you have to pay me. Um, it was so liberating when I got that first paycheck that is actually mine, and I don't need to ask another person how I'm going to spend it. I can definitely say we are living our american dream.

[36:19] KEVIN KOLINER: I imagine when you just walk around your daily life and people probably look at you and your husband as successful professionals with kids who are doing so well in school and going into their own successful careers, and they don't know where you have, how far you've come from literally, you know, working 20 hours a day and sleeping on a floor. How does that change your. Or, I guess, color your perspective when you see folks who might be struggling?

[37:04] GINA AGULTO: It's. I would just always, like, approach every situation in a positive way, because I know that back then, if I just decided, you know, poor me, poor me, this is happening to me. They're doing it to me, and I'm just gonna let them do it to me, none of this would have happened. So I always. Whenever I meet people, I try to be as positive as I can. I'm hoping to, like, not without telling them my story. I can brush that energy onto them to just approach life in a positive way and just embrace whatever comes. It's like, right now, we are in this crazy pandemic, but we are all still here. We are all surviving. And as you said earlier, I've heard somebody say, I'm a survivor, and I do consider myself a survivor. And in so many ways, we are all survivors. And that's just pretty much how I deal with life. Like, on a daily basis, I try not to dwell on negativity and just be positive. Like, just embrace whatever comes your way and turn it into something that would be good for you, for your family, and for everyone around you.

[38:40] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, Gina one thing I've always been proud of you for doing is when you returned home to the Philippines, you could have very easily, you had escaped, and you could have very easily turned your back on the folks that were left behind there and gone back to your life and to your family and to have never gone to the embassy and reported what had happened. And because you did, you saved a number of other people. And that's a real truth of your story. Is that because you came back to testify at that trial, you've created, in some ways, legal standards that exist and that have been used. Your case is one that resulted in a published appellate opinion that has then been applied to other cases. And so I think your example is one of also giving back to help others in the same situation or similar situations. And I'm very proud of you for that. You should be proud of yourself.

[39:50] GINA AGULTO: Oh, thank you so much, sir. None of this would have happened without you guys, your entire team. And I thank you for the friendship through the years. This is when I'm gonna start being emotional. But you and the rest of the team are my lifelong friends, and I thank you. And opportunities like this, I always welcome. I always want to share my story so other people can, like, get something out of it, you know, just help other people as well. And I.

[40:27] KEVIN KOLINER: It's a gift that you've given on your birthday. Today's your birthday, right, Gina

[40:32] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir, it's my birthday.

[40:36] KEVIN KOLINER: Happy birthday to you. And thank you for your story.

[40:43] GINA AGULTO: Thank you.

[40:44] KEVIN KOLINER: Talk to you soon. Decide to come back.

[40:51] GINA AGULTO: It's basically because of the debt contract, sir. I barely paid some of it in for the first trip. It was, I would say, maybe one third of what's on there.

[41:03] KEVIN KOLINER: Even after working that many hours.

[41:06] GINA AGULTO: Yes.

[41:07] KEVIN KOLINER: Turning over all or most of the money. Almost all of the money.

[41:12] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. It was like, there is no way I'm going to be able to pay them back if I don't go back. Like, because they said the second trip is going to be better. It will be like, in season. It's not winter. It will. You'll be able to, like, have lots of hours, lots of jobs everywhere. But as soon as we landed, same thing. They got our passports with our visas. They. We were living in that same accommodation, like, same conditions. Pretty much nothing changed. It didn't really get that busy at the hotel at that point.

[41:53] KEVIN KOLINER: So I'm sorry. Let's talk about when you decided to report what was going on there at that hotel. And then there became a federal investigation that you became involved in.

[42:10] GINA AGULTO: So I kept really close correspondence with my husband. He knows everything that's happening. There was, like, talks among, like, three other Filipinos that I was close with. Some of them are thinking of running away just to get away from this crazy situation. And was like, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna jeopardize and do anything unlawful in this situation. So I was like, I talked to my husband, and our decision was for me to go home. And we found a way. I told them that my mother is very sick, I need to go home. And for some reasons, which up until now, I'm still thanking God, I'm still asking for forgiveness. This is. I did a white light, but I was allowed to go home, but not until I signed another promissory note or letter or whatever it is, that I'm coming back, and I'm going to be paying them back whatever I owe them. And I was asked to work a 24 hours shift before my flight, before I was taken to the airport. I was. I did not get a hold of my passport and visa up until I was boarding. Pretty much. That's when I got ahold of it. And you can. You can imagine the freedom I felt. But as soon as I landed in the Philippines, I went to the embassy and because I'm like, I'm free, I'm back, but I'm not completely free because I signed this debt contracts. I'm still indebted to them and this other Filipinos left behind who are. I'm not sure what's going to happen to them. I'm so worried about them. That was my main reason for going into the embassy. And that's when I. I got introduced to senior ice agent Julian Briola, who kind of like, started the ball rolling from that end. Because I know you guys, you and the ice agents here also, like, started the ball rolling on your end. But that's how it all started, actually, on my end, I thought that was it. I let the authorities know, somebody starting to listen. That was like a very emotional moment for me when I met Julia, Mister Briola. It was emotional and freeing at the same time, because somebody now is listening. And I knew at that time, at that moment, we are on the right track with this.

[45:01] KEVIN KOLINER: So ultimately, when what was going on at that hotel was discovered, there was a multi agency investigation. There was a search warrant executed at the hotel. There were a variety of documents that were discovered, including all these debt contracts. In fact, the US Department of Labor went in and did a wage and hour analysis and found that there were some workers there that were working as many as 130 some hours a week at the hotel. We found the records of all of these. We called it the paycheck merry go round, where checks would be written and then handed back and these debts would keep increasing. And then federal charges were brought. There were a number of federal charges brought. And the Ferals proceeded to a jury trial. And you testified in that trial and talked to the jury about your experiences. You came back from the. We brought you back from the Philippines. You had gone home at that point. Tell us about that experience of being a witness in a federal trial and having to confront the folks that had done all of this to you.

[46:23] GINA AGULTO: At first, I was a little scared, if I should use that word, very uncomfortable to be in the same room again with the people who pretty much caused this nightmare in my life, in my family's life. But whenever I met you guys, you, the rest of the team. Craig Shear, marla's big eagle, charlotte Romayo. I can't remember the rest of the team.

[46:59] KEVIN KOLINER: Michael frank was counsel at trial. Yeah, from the civil rights division of the department of justice.

[47:06] GINA AGULTO: How can I forget him? He actually came over and interviewed me in my little island province in the Philippines. But I felt confident and I felt safe because that was the main. That was just the main concern of my husband, if I'm going to be safe coming back. But with all of you guys, I knew at that point that the us justice system is working. It's going to work. And it did. In this particular case, sitting in that witness stand, I was able to tell my story. It was. It was painstaking, but I was able to tell it the way that it happened. And with all these people listening and, you know, the right people listening, actually, like we. We knew at that time, we were telling it to the right people because we were too scared before to even speak to anybody because they. We were isolated. They isolated that we could not have friends. We're not allowed to ask for rides. Even in the middle of snowstorm during the first trip. It will be like, taken against us if they find out that somebody had given us a ride. They said, don't be friends with anybody in the area. People can do harm to you. Not knowing that, that's their way of isolating us. So we can not really, like, ask for help or I tell other people what's going on.

[48:43] KEVIN KOLINER: One memory that I have, I don't know if you remember this, but it was after the trial, and the trial was in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and then you had to get transported after you testified to another town that was about, oh, I think, 3 hours away drive. And you and I made that drive together way back then. And I remember we were talking about how, you know, there is a visa that's available for people to apply for if they were a victim of human trafficking offense. And so it was on your mind about whether you were going to go home to the Philippines and just never again come back to America or whether you were going to make that difficult decision and apply for that visa to become ultimately a citizen and perhaps bring your family over as well. Do you remember our talk that night?

[49:43] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir. Almost like it just happened yesterday. It was. It was a very hard decision to make at that point because with what my family went through, my husband and my children, it was so scary to take that risk of whether I should stay and, you know, take that opportunity of availing of that visa and the possibility of them coming over because of what happened. It was just a scary decision to make. But then I also remembered us talking about what kind of life are we going to be able to build here with that opportunity, like, especially the education that my kids can have out here and the job opportunities that we can have. And I'm so glad that I made the decision to stay.

[50:45] KEVIN KOLINER: So that was about, oh, what was it? Maybe 13 years ago or so? And I remember part of that discussion, I was saying to you, Gina just imagine in future years, your kids will be, like, moving into their college dorm and their roommate will be saying to them, well, how did your family get to the United States? And they'll say, well, you're not going to believe it, but it's quite a story. This is what my mom went through. And I remember we were talking about that and kind of laughing about it. But tell us about what's happened with your life and your family since that night, sir.

[51:27] GINA AGULTO: It's been. It's been great. I can say we are living the american dream. Since my family got here, they started going to school here. Two of our older kids graduated from the University of Texas in Austin. They both have bachelor's degrees now. And our middle child is actually getting ready to go to med school, hopefully in the fall. You can only imagine, like, whenever my husband and I would be sitting down and we would be, like, looking back at what happened in our lives, what brought us here. We can still, like, you know, we're still kind of, like, in disbelief of how things turned out. But I told him, it's really true. When your only purpose in life is to do what is right, everything else will fall into place. Had I made the bad decision of staying and running away whenever we were talking about that with other Filipinos, at that point when we were trying to decide versus going home and actually taking the route of bringing my complaint to the us embassy there, it would have been maybe a different story, but it's been great. You can only imagine when my kids were writing their college essays.

[52:58] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, I also remember that I got a call one day from you saying that, asking if I would be a reference for a job that you were applying for. And I got then a call from your current employer. We don't have to say who you work for now, but your current employer essentially asking me. It was a team of people that had interviewed you, and they were sort of in disbelief that the story that they'd heard was true. And I had to tell them it was. And I remember telling them, well, there are few people that I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they're a hard worker. But I said, this woman, the US Department of Labor has certified that she can work 120 hours in a week. I can't imagine that there's anyone who will outwork her. But you've now had a successful career and are in the midst of a successful career, and your husband is a success as well, in his work, and your kids are, too. And tell us about your mom, the one who cared for those kids back when they were little babies.

[54:20] GINA AGULTO: So this is another thing that kind of, like, is the result of all that we've gone through and, you know, just doing the right thing, pretty much following the right procedure and trusting the system. I can happily say that my petition for my mom for an immigrant visa has been approved. We're just waiting for an interview at the embassy because of everything that's going on right now that has been postponed. But we can't wait for her to join us here and to finally be with her grandkids, who, as I said, pretty much she. She took care of these kids from birth till when they were ready to migrate, and we just can't wait for her to come over and join us. But going back to what we've experienced, like not being able to control your own money, having to explain to people, how are you gonna spend your money? Having to ask people for rides or having to walk through snow, and I, you know, this crazy weather, you can only imagine what we felt when we bought our house, when we finally have our, you know, car to go to work and get that paycheck and be able to spend it the way we would spend it for our kids. And not being told, you cannot buy that, you cannot spend it on that. You cannot send that to your kids at home, because you have to pay me. It was so liberating when I got that first paycheck that is actually mine, and I don't need to ask another person how I'm going to spend it. I can definitely say we are living our american dream.

[56:23] KEVIN KOLINER: I imagine when you just walk around your daily life and people probably look at you and your husband as successful professionals with kids who are doing so well in school and going into their own successful careers, and they don't know how far you've come from literally, you know, working 20 hours a day and sleeping on a floor. How does that change your. Or, I guess, color your perspective when you see folks who might be struggling?

[57:08] GINA AGULTO: It's. I would just always, like, approach every situation in a positive way, because I know that back then, if I just decided, you know, poor me, poor me, this is happening to me. They're doing it to me, and I'm just gonna let them do it to me, none of this would have happened. So I always. Whenever I meet people, I try to be as positive as I can. I'm hoping to, like, not without telling them my story. I can brush that energy onto them to just approach life in a positive way and just. Just embrace whatever comes. It's like, right now we are in this crazy pandemic, but we are all still here. We are all surviving. And as you said earlier, like, I've heard somebody say, I'm a survivor, and I do consider myself a survivor. And in so many ways, we are all survivors. And this is pretty much how I deal with life. Like, on a daily basis. You know, I try not to dwell on negativity and just. Just be positive. Like, just embrace whatever comes your way and turn it into something that would be good for you, for your family, and for everyone around you.

[58:44] KEVIN KOLINER: Well, Gina one thing I've always been proud of you for doing is when you returned home to the Philippines, you could have very easily, you had escaped and you could have very easily turned your back on the folks that were left behind there and gone back to your life and to your family and to have never gone to the embassy and reported what had happened. And because you did, you saved a number of other people. And that's a real truth of your story. Is that because you came back to testify at that trial, you've created, in some ways legal standards that exist and that have been used. You know, your case is one that resulted in a published appellate opinion that has then been applied to other cases. And so I think your example is one of also giving back to help others in the same situation or similar situations. And I'm very proud of you for that. You should be proud of yourself.

[59:54] GINA AGULTO: Oh, thank you so much, sir. None of this would have happened without you guys, your entire team. And I thank you for the friendship through the years. This is when I'm going to start being emotional. But you and the rest of the team are my lifelong friends, and I thank you. And opportunities like this, I always welcome. I always want to share my story so other people can, like, get something out of it, you know, just help other people as well.

[01:00:29] KEVIN KOLINER: And it's a gift that you've given on your birthday. Today's your birthday, right, Gina

[01:00:36] GINA AGULTO: Yes, sir, it's my birthday.

[01:00:40] KEVIN KOLINER: Happy birthday to you and thank you for your story.

[01:00:46] GINA AGULTO: Thank you.

[01:00:48] KEVIN KOLINER: Talk to you soon.