Tell Carnival Cruise Lines: Stop Allowing CBP to Target and Coerce Filipinos Workers to Self-Deport

Laura Quevedo, Chief Human Resources Officer, Carnival Cruise Lines

A Public Accountability Campaign Targeting Carnival Cruise Lines

What is the Issue?

  • Custom Border and Protection (CBP) at east coast ports has been detaining, accusing them of heinous crimes and deporting Filipino crew members without evidence and Carnival is doing nothing to protect its own workers.
  • Carnival controls the environment onboard and is responsible for ensuring workers are not abused, coerced, humiliated or intimidated.
  • Filipino workers are being singled out, raising serious concerns of racial profiling.
  • Carnival refuses to provide legal counsel, translators, or consular access, leaving migrant workers vulnerable to CBP coercion.
  • Workers were pressured into signing “voluntary” removals, often without understanding the consequences. Over 100 Filipino cruise ship workers have been deported in this manner since April of this year.
  • This violates international labor standards, including the Maritime Labour Convention.
  • Carnival profits from Filipino labor but won’t protect Filipino workers when they face abuse.
  • A company with billions in revenue can easily provide worker protections, legal support, and oversight—they choose not to.

We demand transparency, accountability, and concrete reforms to ensure CBP cannot operate unchecked aboard cruise ships

Sponsored by
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Tanggol Migrante Movement - DMV
Washington, DC

To: Laura Quevedo, Chief Human Resources Officer, Carnival Cruise Lines
From: [Your Name]

Filipino crew members on Carnival Cruise Line ships are being detained, interrogated, and
coerced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without evidence or due process.
Workers have been accused of wrongdoing with no proof, denied access to legal counsel or translators, and pressured into signing “voluntary” removal papers they did not fully
understand.

Carnival’s response—claiming this is simply “a law enforcement matter”—ignores its
responsibility to protect its own workers from discriminatory and abusive treatment.

We demand that Carnival adopt a worker-protection protocol immediately:

1. Provide independent legal counsel, translators, and consular access during all CBP
interactions.
2. End coerced ‘voluntary’ removals and require third-party oversight for any repatriation.
3. Publish a transparent CBP operating protocol for all Carnival ships.
4. Authorize independent observers to monitor CBP activities on Carnival vessels.
5. Support and compensate wrongfully accused workers