Hyundai Emmigration Development Corp. Even after paying the application fees, Korean workers normally wait six or seven years before they receive permission to immigrate. But the process can be hastened if someone drops out and another worker's name is substituted. Labor and immigration experts say the brokering is reminiscent of the Colonial-era practice of indentured labor in which European immigrants worked for seven years as servants in exchange for passage to America. This is truly outrageous. During fiscal 1999, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul issued 360 visas for Koreans headed to work in poultry plants.
Some brokers deliver workers to poultry companies in southern Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas.
Most live in Salisbury, headquarters of Perdue Farms Inc., and the largest single group works at Showell. As soon as they complete a year of work, they move on, many to join the Korean American communities in Washington and Baltimore. Former chicken workers run liquor stores in the District, a doughnut shop in Gaithersburg and a dry cleaner in Manassas. But once they're done here, they move elsewhere as quickly as possible to start a new life. At first, the advertisement in one of Korea's largest daily newspapers seemed too good to be true for the Chois.