Yamilet Nolasco sues Florida family for labor trafficking after three years of unpaid work

Yamilet Nolasco calculated that she owed her former employers approximately 4,784 dollars in unpaid wages for three years of full-time child care and housekeeping in Miami. The figure comes from a recent account of her labor trafficking case, which began when she was 18 years old and ended with police handcuffing the family in their home in 2021.

A 2026 study by The Right to Freedom reports that 90% of domestic workers in Florida lack written contracts. More than half of these workers log over 50 hours per week. The organization noted a rising number of reported exploitation cases in the sector. Nolasco’s situation aligns with these statistics, as she arrived in the United States in the spring of 2019 with a verbal agreement for 130 dollars weekly, a rate she later described as negligible for the volume of work required.

Nolasco knew the family in her hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico, when she was 16. They cared for a newborn and a seven-year-old. When the family moved to the United States, they secured a work visa for Nolasco to join them once she turned 18. She signed a domestic worker contract at the consulate before traveling to Miami in 2019. At that time, the family had three children: a one-year-old, a two-year-old, and a ten-year-old.

The family never paid Nolasco in cash. Instead, they covered specific expenses like groceries using a credit card and claimed this satisfied her salary requirements. They kept her Sunday workday free only to ask her to join them on boat trips, where she continued to supervise the children. Responsibilities expanded to include cleaning the home and caring for a dog after the family moved to a larger house. Nolasco had no bank account and could not send money to her relatives in Mexico except for occasional transfers the family made directly to them.

Nolasco’s visa lapsed during the pandemic in 2020 because appointments were unavailable for renewal. She learned of the situation in 2021 after attending a quinceanera with relatives in the United States. Family members reported her conditions to a local association in North Carolina. They connected her with Karla, a Florida-based organizer with The Right to Freedom who had also suffered domestic labor abuse.

Police contacted Nolasco by phone shortly after the report. The employer told her to hang up and not speak to the officers. Days later, detectives arrived at the residence. They ordered the employer to leave the room to prevent coercion. Officers used the terms labor exploitation and human trafficking. Investigators and translators arrived, and police handcuffed the husband and wife. They removed the children from the home, and relatives picked them up. Nolasco retrieved her documents, which the family had withheld.

Nolasco described the experience as a shock because she viewed the family as good people. She said it was difficult to recognize the abuse because she lived in a comfortable home and felt she was receiving everything she needed. She noted that she was effectively confined by her expired visa status and the threat of deportation. The family had threatened to harm her relatives if she left.

Following the investigation, Nolasco received a T visa, a status designed for victims of severe human trafficking. She obtained a work permit and a Social Security number. She is waiting for three years to pass before applying for permanent residency. She now works for UPS in North Carolina. Nolasco is 26 years old and has two children. Her oldest turned three on October 29, 2026. She said she no longer works as a nanny but believes domestic workers deserve fair pay and respect for the demanding nature of the job.

The Right to Freedom continues to document cases of unpaid domestic workers. Nolasco urges other workers to seek help and not accept the argument that housing and food replace wages. She said that while fear is a normal reaction, workers have the right to a future with legal protections. The T visa process provided her with the stability needed to rebuild her life outside of the employment relationship that had trapped her for three years.