LOS ANGELES — Almost three decades after 72 Thai migrant workers were freed from a makeshift garment factory in an El Monte apartment complex, the U.S. Department of Labor honored the group for their courage, resilience and advocacy work in reforming labor laws and creating worker protections.

The high-profile case was one the earliest examples of modern-day slavery. Spectrum News 1 spoke to two of the workers who were labor trafficked, held captive for years and forced to sew clothes for long hours in inhumane conditions, until they were rescued on Aug. 2, 1995 by federal agents during a raid.

Chancee Mortorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center who was present the day of the raid, spoke with Spectrum News 1 about the legacy of this high-profile case and why labor trafficking and wage theft are issues that still persist to this day.