Attorney General Ken Paxton Stops Austin Business from Operating International Human Trafficking Scheme
January 30, 2025 – Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a $250,000 settlement of the State’s labor trafficking lawsuit against Austin Eco Bilingual School, a Spanish immersion preschool, and its owners and operators, Adriana and Enrique Rodriguez. The settlement amount is equal to the maximum fine for a violation of Texas’s civil anti-trafficking law.
In 2021, Attorney General Paxton brought a civil racketeering action against Austin Eco Bilingual School and Adriana Rodriguez for trafficking at least seven employees. The suit also accused Enrique Rodriguez of unlawfully benefiting from the trafficking enterprise. The owners of Austin Eco Bilingual School allegedly lured foreign-born employees to Texas with promises of lawful status, a decent salary, and a rewarding career, who were then trafficked for their labor.
The lawsuit accused Adriana Rodriguez, once named the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Businesswoman of the Year, of sabotaging and controlling her employees’ ability to work legally in the U.S. and threatening to have employees deported, arrested, or separated from their children if they did not continue to work – often for far less pay than promised or no pay at all. According to court records, Rodriguez threatened trafficked employees by highlighting her connections to high-ranking law enforcement and other government officials, one of the identified victims quoting Rodriguez as allegedly saying, “I am a very important person, and I can destroy you whenever I choose.”
“This settlement will ensure that no one is subjected to the horrors of human trafficking or unlawful labor practices,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The actions alleged in the lawsuit were despicable and I am pleased to have secured justice for the victims. I will use every tool at my disposal to prevent companies from operating unlawful labor trafficking schemes using imported foreign workers.”
This outcome was made possible only through the bravery and perseverance of the victims, and the cooperation of dozens of witnesses. If you or someone you know may have been a victim of labor trafficking at Austin Eco Bilingual School or elsewhere, please contact the Office of the Attorney General, Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section at (512) 463-1646 or [email protected].
