Sen. Chris Murphy Issues Report He Says Shows End of Sugar WRO Was Corrupt
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., issued a report that he said shows how the president is using agencies in a "pay-to-play scheme," including in the case of a lifted withhold release order for forced labor.
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"After a $1.4 million donation to Trump and his allies, CBP lifted their import ban on Central Romana sugar, despite CBP findings that Central Romana was exploiting forced labor and human trafficking victims," Murphy said.
"For many decades, the working and living conditions in Central Romana’s fields have been notoriously awful. Many of the workers are migrants from Haiti or their descendants, often undocumented or stateless, giving them little recourse against being forced to work in terrible conditions," the report said.
CBP issued a WRO in 2022 for sugar grown by the company after finding five of the 11 forced labor indicators were present -- abuse of vulnerability, isolation, withholding of wages, abusive working and living conditions, and excessive overtime (see 2211230037).
The report said the company's leaders then “tried their usual playbook to get off the hook: lobbying and political connections. The Fanjul family pressed their connections in the Biden administration to intervene, and Central Romana spent $1.1 million on lobbyists in 2023 and 2024. To the credit of the Biden administration, they did not reverse course.
“Trump and his administration did not share such scruples. The Fanjuls gave $1 million to the Make America Great Again PAC and $413,000 to the Republican National Committee. On the same day that Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges, Jose Fanjul hosted an exclusive fundraising dinner for Trump with his billionaire friends.
“In March, CBP quietly lifted the order blocking imports of Central Romana sugar,” the report said.
A source involved in the case told International Trade Today then that Central Romana had made only superficial changes to working conditions, and said, “CBP received instructions from very high up in the Trump administration to do this. They did not follow the typical process for modifying a WRO” (See 2503190071).
The White House didn't respond to our request for comment.