Human Rights
Documents & Texts from America.gov
09 February 2007
Fighting Human Trafficking a U.S. Governmentwide Effort
By Michelle Austein, USINFO Staff Writer
Washington – Preventing human trafficking and protecting victims in the United States is a multiagency effort and a top priority, according to representatives of several U.S. government agencies.
"Not one agency has the infrastructure or the means to be able to address trafficking in persons alone," said Gabriel Garcia, chief of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit.
Garcia was one of many government officials who spoke to foreign journalists during a tour organized by the Department of State's Foreign Press Center in Washington and New York, February 5-7. The journalists met with U.S. and U.N. officials and representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working to prevent human trafficking.
Of the approximately 600,000 to 800,000 people coerced or forced into crossing international borders each year, about 14,500 to 17,500 end up in the United States, according to U.S. government estimates.
U.S. agencies are working to stop trafficking through training to help better identify victims, improving services provided to victims and by increasing public awareness campaigns.
IDENTIFYING AND PROTECTING VICTIMS
Those trafficked into and within the United States come from at least 65 countries. Of the 1,100 people since 2001 certified by the Department of Health and Human Services to be trafficking victims, the greatest numbers have come from Vietnam, Mexico and El Salvador.
The U.S. approach is centered on the victim, the officials said. The first priority, said Grace Chung Becker, deputy assistant attorney general for Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, is to rescue the victim.
Immigration officials try to stop trafficking at the 327 ports of entry into the United States; however, many of those entering the United States do not realize they are being trafficked, said Garcia. For example, a person initially might have agreed to be smuggled into the United States, but then are forced into domestic servitude or prostitution after they arrive.
Public awareness campaigns, including billboards at airports and televised public-service announcements help explain human trafficking, reassure victims that they will be protected and warn traffickers that they will be prosecuted.
These public-awareness campaigns, not just for potential victims but for all people, are important because victims often do not come forward, said Martha Newton, director of the Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement.
 A border patrol agent processes some suspected illegal immigrants near the Arizona-Mexico border in Sasabe, Arizona. (© AP Images)
Victims often are isolated and, in some cases, rarely watch television or leave their place of work. Therefore they have no way of knowing that protective services are available. Additionally, captors, many of whom have taken away their victims’ passports, tell their victims that if they run away they will be arrested and deported.
"Victims are paralyzed in fear. They feel trapped. There is no solution they can see," said Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at Health and Human Services.
Much of HHS' $9.8 million annual budget to fight human trafficking is given to local outreach organizations that help spread information about trafficking to those most likely to come in contact with victims. These organizations talk with municipal workers, health care organizations, social services providers, child welfare offices, local ethnic communities and faith-based organizations. A 24-hour hotline to report possible cases of human trafficking has received 4,500 calls since April 2004.
Partner organizations and nongovernmental organizations also provide support including shelter, clothes, food, psychological services and immigration services to the rescued.
Trafficking victims found in the United States are afforded the same rights and benefits as refugees. Those certified by Health and Human Services to be trafficking victims are entitled to the full range of American social service systems, including health care under the federal-state Medicaid program.
Certified victims also can apply for a T visa, which enables them to stay in the United States and bring their families over as well. Those who receive T visas must be willing to assist U.S. prosecutors, including testifying against their traffickers.
"We understand that for victims to be able to be stable we must be able to provide short-term and long-term immigration relief," Garcia said. "This means we don't deport victims of trafficking."
PROSECUTING TRAFFICKERS
The passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 gave the Justice Department more authority to prosecute traffickers. Between fiscal years 2001 and 2006, the department has prosecuted 360 defendants and earned 238 convictions. Nearly 75 percent of these cases have dealt with sex trafficking, the others primarily involve forced labor incidents.
On January 31, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the creation of a new Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit designed to develop new strategies to combat anti-trafficking by expanding enforcement efforts and increasing prosecutions.
The unit will "expand and enhance our ability to fight this crime by working together with federal, state and local investigators and NGOs to tackle the enormous challenges posed by this evil," Gonzales said in a press release.
The full text of the release is available on the Justice Department Web site.
For more information, see Human Trafficking.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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