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Behind the Labels Garment Workers on U.S. Saipan

"I have a son. He was five years old when I came here. He's nine now. He doesn't remember what I look like. I really want to go back to see him, but I haven't earned enough money. I'd be embarrassed to return to my parents and relatives now. But I miss him badly. Every mother feels the same way. I haven't fulfilled my responsibility as a mother. I thought that by coming here, I could improve the economic situation of my family. But I can't get my hands on the money I made here, and I have no faith that I ever will."
Garment worker, Saipan

Saipan is the capital, and most populated island, of the chain of 14 Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. The islands are a U.S. territory 3,900 miles west of Hawaii. Exploiting trade benefits and loopholes in U.S. immigration and wage laws, Asian-based garment manufacturers have flocked to Saipan, bringing in cloth and materials by the shipload along with tens of thousands of foreign indentured workers. Lured by the promise of good American jobs, Chinese, Thai, Bangladeshi and Filipino women and men pay thousands of dollars to recruiters and travel far from home, only to find themselves stranded on the tiny island, working 70 or 80 hours a week without overtime pay and living in crowded, company-owned barracks. Much of the sub-minimum wage they earn is taken for living and travel expenses, and they are bound to their employers by contract and by fear. The product of this indentured labor, bearing "Made in the USA" labels is shipped into the mainland U.S. market, duty-free and without quotas, for sale at brand-name retail outlets like the GAP, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren and other stores.