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Abuse of Guest Workers, Internet Inequality and More in MuckReads Weekly

by Adam Harris

Some of the best #MuckReads we read this week. Want to receive these by email?  Sign up to get this briefing delivered to your inbox every weekend.

The Pushovers, Buzzfeed

What happens when employers abuse and exploit foreign workers let into the U.S. for seasonal work? Often nothing, this investigation asserts. The Department of Labor "rarely kicks employers out of the program," and sometimes, the neglect cost workers their lives.

Private schools, painful secrets, Boston Globe

Since 1991, at least 67 New England prep schools have faced accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of by staff members against students. And, in some cases, the Globe wrote, "private school employees who were accused of sexual misconduct went on to work at other schools."

Chemical Breakdown, Houston Chronicle

All over Houston, residents live near harmful chemicals without knowing it. Nearly 80 percent of the 655 facilities in Houston that store "chemicals dangerous enough to impose serious harm in an accident" have "10,000 or more people within a 2-mile radius" – and regulators are doing very little to make sure residents are notified.

Rich people have access to high-speed Internet; many poor people still don't, Center for Public Integrity

High-speed broadband Internet access is expanding across America – at least in the wealthiest areas. According to this CPI investigation, more than 30 million Americans still don't have access to broadband, and it's poor neighborhoods that are once again being left behind.

Banished, Austin American Statesman

They served in the U.S. military during wartime. They were legal residents. Then they broke the law and were deported. That is the situation an "untold number" of veterans find themselves in. Analysts cited in the story say the practice appears to have become more common in recent years as the Obama administration has become more aggressive about deporting immigrants with criminal backgrounds.

#MuckReads Local

Tampa Bay Walmarts get thousands of police calls. You paid the bill., Tampa Bay Times

Profit at a SoCal Non-profit?, Los Angeles Magazine

Fresno apartments crawling with mice, roaches but fearful tenants stay quiet, The Fresno Bee

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