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[
Country-by-Country Reports ] UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA [not rated] The
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that 50,000 people are trafficked into
or transited through the U.S.A. annually as sex slaves, domestics, garment,
and agricultural slaves
U.S. Government Domestic Anti-Trafficking Efforts [US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Reports, June
2009] The United States is a destination country for thousands of
men, women, and children trafficked largely from Mexico and East Asia, as
well as countries in South Asia, Central America, Africa, and Europe, for the
purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Three-quarters of all foreign
adult victims identified during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 were victims of
trafficking for forced labor. Some trafficking victims, responding to
fraudulent offers of employment in the United States, migrate willingly—legally
and illegally—and are subsequently subjected to conditions of involuntary
servitude or debt bondage at work sites or in commercial sex. An unknown
number of American citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the
country, primarily for sexual servitude. The U.S. Government (USG) in 2008 continued to advance the
goal of eradicating human trafficking in the United States. This coordinated
effort includes several federal agencies and approximately $23 million in FY
2008 for domestic programs to boost anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts,
identify and protect victims of trafficking, and raise awareness of
trafficking as a means of preventing new incidents. Recommendations:
The USG
annually assesses its efforts in a separate report compiled by the Department
of Justice (DOJ) [see www.usdoj.gov/olp/human_trafficking.htm]. As per
recommendations from the May 2008 assessment, the USG is working to ensure
that law enforcement agents and serviceproviding
grantees, subcontractors, and partners collaborate expeditiously to identify
U.S. and foreign victims, provide care, and secure immigration relief, if
needed. Prosecution Protection The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides two
principal types of immigration relief authorized by the TVPA:
(1) continued presence (CP) to human trafficking victims who are potential
witnesses during investigation or prosecution, and (2) T non-immigrant status
or “T-visas,” a special self-petitioned visa category for trafficking
victims. In FY 2008, DHS/ICE’s Law Enforcement
Parole Branch approved 225 requests for CP and 101 requests for extensions of
existing CPs. DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) issued 247 T-visas to foreign
survivors of human trafficking identified in the United States and 171
T-visas to their immediate family members. As part of the assistance provided under the TVPA, the Department of State’s Bureau of Population,
Refugees, and Migration funds the Return, Reintegration, and Family
Reunification Program for Victims of Trafficking. In calendar year 2008, the
program assisted 105 cases. Of these cases, two trafficking victims elected
to return to their country of origin, and 103 family members were reunited
with trafficking survivors in the United States. Since its inception in 2005,
the program has assisted around 250 people from 35 countries. Prevention U.S. Government Domestic Anti-Trafficking Efforts [US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Reports, June
2008] The United States (U.S.) is a destination country for
thousands of men, women, and children trafficked largely from East Asia,
Mexico, and Central America for the purposes of sexual and labor
exploitation. A majority of foreign victims identified during the year were
victims of trafficking for forced labor. Some men and women, responding to
fraudulent offers of employment in the United States, migrate
willingly—legally and illegally—but are subsequently subjected to conditions
of involuntary servitude or debt bondage at work sites or in the commercial
sex trade. An unknown number of American citizens and legal residents are
trafficked within the country primarily for sexual servitude and, to a lesser
extent, forced labor. The U.S. Government (USG) in 2007 continued to advance the
goal of eradicating human trafficking in the United States. This coordinated
effort includes several federal agencies and approximately $23 million in
Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 for domestic programs to boost anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts, identify and protect victims of trafficking, and raise awareness of
trafficking as a means of preventing new incidents Recommendations:
The USG
annually assesses its efforts in a separate report compiled by the Department
of Justice (DOJ) [see www.usdoj.gov/olp/human_trafficking.htm]. Among
recommendations from the September 2007 assessment, the USG is working to
increase cooperation among U.S. agencies to maximize efficiency in services
and information dissemination. Prosecution The
federal government worked to bolster efforts at state and local levels. By
the end of 2007, 33 states had passed criminal anti-trafficking legislation.
In 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
further strengthened the Rescue & Restore Regional Program, employing a
community-based intermediary model to regionally develop civil society
networks for outreach, identification, and service activities. Protection The
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides two principal types of
immigration relief authorized by the TVPA: 1)
continued presence (CP) to human trafficking victims who are potential
witnesses during investigation or prosecution, and 2) T non-immigrant status
or “T-visas,” a special, self-petitioned visa category for trafficking
victims. In FY 2007, DHS/ICE’s Law Enforcement
Parole Branch approved 122 requests for CP and five requests for extensions
of existing CPs. DHS U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services issued 279 T-visas to foreign survivors of human
trafficking in the U. S. and 261 T-visas to their immediate family members in
FY 2007. The USG continues to work towards publishing a regulation for the
adjustment of status for qualified T-visa holders, creating a pathway for citizenship. As part
of the assistance provided under the TVPA, the
Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration funds the
Return, Reintegration, and Family Reunification Program for Victims of
Trafficking. In calendar year 2007, the program assisted 104 cases. Of the
cases assisted, five victims of trafficking elected to return to their
country of origin, and 99 family members were reunited with trafficking
survivors in the United States. Since its inception in 2005, the program has
assisted around160 persons from 31 countries. Prevention U.S. Government Domestic Anti-Trafficking Efforts [US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Reports, June
2007] The United States is a source and destination country for thousands of men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Women and girls, largely from East Asia, Eastern Europe, Mexico and Central America are trafficked to the United States into prostitution. Some men and women, responding to fraudulent offers of employment in the United States, migrate willingly-legally and illegally-but are subsequently subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude at work sites or in the commercial sex trade. An unknown number of American citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the country primarily for sexual servitude and, to a lesser extent, forced labor. The United States Government (USG) in 2006 continued to advance the goal of eradicating human trafficking in the United States. This coordinated effort includes several federal agencies and approximately $28.5 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 for domestic programs to boost anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, identify and protect victims of trafficking, and raise awareness of trafficking as a means of preventing new incidents. While significant progress has been made, the U.S. Government continues to seek improvement in its efforts to address trafficking within the borders of the United States. For example, the U.S. Government, its state and local partners, and NGOs strive to improve coordination of services to victims. This includes efforts to find victims, track the support they receive from the U.S. Government and U.S. Government grantees, and coordinate efforts to effectively provide services. For a complete assessment of USG efforts to combat trafficking in persons, please visit the Department of Justice Web site: www.usdoj.gov/whatwedo/whatwedo_ctip.html Prosecution State and local governments also made significant law enforcement efforts against trafficking in persons. By the end of 2006, 27 states had passed criminal anti-trafficking legislation. DOJ and Health and Human Services (HHS) continue to increase the number of anti-trafficking task forces, coalitions, and outreach efforts across the United States. DOJ funded 42 task forces at the end of FY 2006, up from 32 in FY 2005. These task forces bring together state, local, and federal law enforcement with partners from NGOs. In 2006, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) began developing resources to help investigators identify potential trafficking issues and began introducing trafficking issues into its investigator training curriculum. During the past year, WHD staff participated in over 30 local, multi-agency task forces on trafficking. Protection In FY 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued 192 T-visas to foreign survivors of human trafficking identified in the United States and 106 T-visas to their immediate family members. T-visas are a special visa category resulting from the TVPA. Cumulatively through FY 2006, DHS has issued a total of 729 visas to human trafficking survivors, and another 645 T-visas to members of their family. As part of the assistance provided under the TVPA, the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration funds the Return, Reintegration, and Family Reunification Program for Victims of Trafficking. Since its launch in 2005, and through April 2007, the program assisted a total of 67 persons from 22 countries. Of the cases assisted, 5 victims of trafficking elected to return to their country of origin, and 62 family members were reunited with trafficking survivors in the United States. Prevention UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT EFFORTS [US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Reports,
June 2006] The U.S. Government (USG) in 2005 advanced an aggressive anti-trafficking campaign to address trafficking crimes and victims identified in the United States. This coordinated effort includes several federal agencies and approximately $25 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 for domestic programs to boost anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, identify and protect victims of trafficking, and raise awareness of trafficking as a means of preventing new incidents. Specifically, this coordinated effort has resulted in the following successes:
The Department of Defense amended its Manual for Courts Martial in October 2005, as a preventative measure under the Government’s “zero tolerance” policy on human trafficking. Now, patronizing a prostitute is a chargeable offense under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. DOD has also developed a trafficking awareness program to draw attention to the criminality and human consequences of trafficking in persons. The program will be mandatory for all military members and DOD civilians by the end of the year.
While
significant progress has been made, the U.S. Government's efforts to address
trafficking within the borders of the United States still need improvement.
Greater efforts should be made to ensure suspected trafficking victims have
time to be counseled, and to provide trafficking information to law enforcement
authorities. Victim protection services for U.S. citizen trafficking victims,
particularly those who are minors, should be more consistent across the
country. Lastly, like most other countries, the USG must continue its efforts
to reduce the gap between estimated TIP victims and those who step forward to
help in prosecutions and receive services. UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT EFFORTS [US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Reports,
June 2005] The
U.S. Government condemns trafficking in persons and remains firmly committed
to fighting this scourge and protecting victims who fall prey to traffickers.
Our commitment to eradicate trafficking includes:
A
compendium of these actions is compiled each year in the Assessment of U.S.
Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which can be found
online at www.usdoj.gov/trafficking.htm. This assessment highlights executive
branch efforts to end modern-day slavery and makes recommendations for
improvements in our efforts over the next year. The
PROTECT Act An
important aspect of the U.S. effort is to strengthen law enforcement’s
ability to investigate, prosecute, and punish violent crimes committed
against children, including child sex tourism and the commercial sexual
exploitation of children. The PROTECT Act (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other
Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003) was passed by
the Congress in April 2003 and signed into law by President Bush. The act
serves as a historic milestone for protecting children while severely
punishing those who victimize young people. Of particular note, the PROTECT
Act allows law enforcement officers to prosecute American citizens and legal
permanent residents who travel abroad and commercially sexually abuse minors
without having to prove prior intent to commit this crime. The law also
strengthens the punishment of these child sex tourists. If convicted, child
sex tourists now face up to 30 years’ imprisonment, an increase from the
previous maximum of 15 years. The
PROTECT Act made several other changes to the law with a focus on protecting
children from sexual predators, including: extending the statute of limitations
for federal crimes involving the abduction or physical or sexual abuse of a
child for the lifetime of the child; expanding the potential reach of federal
sex trafficking prosecutions by extending federal jurisdiction to crimes
committed in foreign commerce; establishing parallel penalty enhancements for
the production of child pornography overseas; and, criminalizing actions to
arrange or facilitate the travel of child sex tourists. The
U.S. Anti-Trafficking Law The
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L.
106-386) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-193) provide tools to combat trafficking in
persons worldwide. The act authorizes the establishment of the Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the President’s Interagency
Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to assist in the
coordination of anti-trafficking efforts. The
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) The
State Department’s TIP Office is mandated to combat and eradicate human
trafficking by focusing worldwide attention on the international slave trade;
assisting countries to eliminate trafficking in persons; promoting regional
and bilateral cooperation; and supporting service providers and NGOs active
in trafficking prevention and victim protection efforts. The TIP Office also
assists foreign governments in drafting or strengthening anti-trafficking
laws and funds law enforcement and victim assistance training to foreign
governments to ensure traffickers are fully investigated and prosecuted to
final conviction. The
TIP Office supported more than 50 anti-trafficking programs abroad in fiscal
year 2004. The types of assistance offered included economic alternative
programs for vulnerable groups; education programs; training for government
officials and medical personnel; development or improvement of
anti-trafficking laws; provision of equipment for law enforcement;
establishment or renovation of shelters, crisis centers, or safe houses for
victims; support for voluntary and humane return and reintegration assistance
for victims; deterrence projects to address the demand for sex trafficking;
and support for psychological, legal, medical and counseling services for
victims provided by NGOs, international organizations and governments. Department
of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)
The
State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) promotes orderly and humane migration, protects the
human rights of vulnerable migrants, and provides assistance to migrants in
need, especially victims of trafficking in persons. The Bureau supports
anti-trafficking programs focusing on victim protection. In
fiscal year 2004, PRM provided over $5 million for
anti-trafficking initiatives overseas carried out by the Bureau’s
implementing partner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and
IOM’s partner NGOs. Specific activities included repatriation and
reintegration assistance for victims; capacity-building to raise awareness,
helping national governments manage migration and provide care for victims;
and training non-governmental organizations to provide assistance to victims,
including mental health care. With PRM support, IOM
developed several training modules on related anti-trafficking activities,
which were piloted in the Caribbean, in Indonesia, and in Southern Africa
over the past year. Additionally, PRM and IOM
launched a pilot project to provide logistical and reunification assistance
for family members of trafficking victims in the United States who are
eligible to come to the United States on a T-2, T-3, or T-4 visa. This
project also offers to assist trafficking victims in the United States who
wish to return and reintegrate in their home country. OTHER
U.S. AGENCY ACTIVITIES The
TVPA commits U.S. federal agencies to implement
programs to protect and assist victims of human trafficking and to capture
and prosecute their traffickers. Victim
Assistance and Public Awareness The
success of U.S. Government efforts to combat trafficking in persons centers
on protecting and assisting victims. To this end, the TVPA
mandates that federally funded or administered benefits and services, such as
cash assistance, medical care, food stamps, and housing, be made available
for certain non-citizen trafficking victims. The
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
provides certification and eligibility letters for victims that allow them to
access most benefits and services comparable to the assistance provided to
refugees. These benefits and services include access to social service
programs and immigration assistance needed to help victims safely and
securely rebuild their lives in the United States. Trafficking victims also
are eligible to receive food stamps through the Department of Agriculture’s
Food and Nutrition Service. From
April 2004 and March 2005, HHS identified 228
victims, more than double the 108 victims identified the previous year. In
fiscal year 2004, HHS issued 163 letters on behalf
of victims, of which 144 were certification letters to adults and 19 were
eligibility letters to minors. These certification and eligibility letters,
combined with the 151 letters issued in fiscal year 2003, the 99 letters
issued in fiscal year 2002, and the 198 letters issued in fiscal year 2001,
bring to 611 the total number of letters issued during the first four fiscal
years in which the program has operated. HHS
also operates a trafficking information and referral hotline. The hotline
allows victims and others persons encountering a victim of trafficking to
call a national toll-free number (888-3737-888) to obtain a referral to a
local organization serving the victims of trafficking and also to obtain
advice on discerning a case of human trafficking. Since April 2004, the
hotline has received more than 2,000 calls. In
April 2004, HHS launched its Rescue and Restore
Victims of Human Trafficking public awareness campaign for the purpose of
increasing awareness of human trafficking, particularly among intermediaries.
Local anti-trafficking coalitions were convened in ten cities to help
disseminate the campaign materials to appropriate intermediaries and to
sustain local activism on the trafficking issue. As part of the Rescue and
Restore campaign, a Web-based resource was established; through the end of
fiscal year 2004, roughly 40,000 people had visited
www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking. The theme of the campaign is "Look Beneath
the Surface" in order to communicate that
intermediaries may be encountering victims in their daily lives and
that they need to look beyond the obvious, asking specific questions or
noting certain behaviors of those who may be potential victims. The
goal of the Rescue and Restore campaign is to increase the number of trafficking
victims identified. Campaign efforts focus on outreach to intermediaries
most likely encounter trafficking victims on a daily basis, but who may not
otherwise recognize them. The campaign educates these groups about human
trafficking, thus enabling them to screen for trafficking victims and
equipping them with tools to assist victims in accessing benefits and
services. These intermediaries include local law enforcement; social service
providers; health care workers; faith-based organizations; migrant and labor
outreach organizations; child and homeless youth advocates and caregivers;
and ethnic organizations. HHS
also provides funding to organizations to aid with trafficking-related
matters. In fiscal year 2004, HHS awarded
approximately $3.37 million in second-year continuation grants to the 14
organizations awarded grants in fiscal year 2002. Additionally, HHS announced new special outreach grants to help
identify trafficking victims and a number of other outreach campaigns aimed
at increasing awareness in communities of trafficking in persons. The
Department of Justice also met immediate needs of victims of trafficking in
persons through witness assistance programs and services provided by the
grantees of the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). In January 2003, OVC
awarded 12 grants totaling more than $9.5 million to NGOs for the purposes of
providing trafficking victims with comprehensive or specialized services and
to provide these grantees with training and technical assistance for program
support. From January through December 2004, OVC
awarded ten additional grants totaling more than $5.5 million to expand
provision of comprehensive services to victims of human trafficking. OVC administers a total of 18 comprehensive services
grants, three supplemental/specialized services grants, and one technical
assistance grant. Comprehensive
services grants provide direct services to meet the broad range of needs of
trafficking victims, including case management; legal advocacy; medical,
dental, and mental health services; shelter; and access to a broad range of
job skills training, education, and other social services. Supplemental
or specialized services grants provide a quickly mobilized single service
over a broad geographical area, such as housing, legal assistance, and mental
health assessment and crisis intervention. OVC
grantees have served a total of 557 victims of human trafficking since the
inception of the program in January 2003. OVC
grantees also have provided substantive training on trafficking to 24,600
people, including law enforcement officials, prosecutors, civil attorneys,
social service providers, physicians, clergy, and other members of their
communities. Training topics include the dynamics of trafficking, the legal
definition of trafficking under the TVPA, legal
rights and services for trafficking victims, and cultural considerations in
serving these victims. Victims
of trafficking often need legal assistance with immigration and other
matters. Since the passage of the TVPA, the Legal
Services Corporation (LSC) must make available
legal assistance to trafficking victims. The LSC is
a private, non-profit corporation established by Congress to fund legal aid
programs around the nation to help indigent Americans gain equal access to
the civil justice system. In fiscal year 2004, eight LSC
grantees assisted 170 trafficking victims. Immigration
Benefits There
are two immigration benefits available through the TVPA
to trafficking victims who meet certain eligibility requirements. Victims may
be authorized "continued presence" to temporarily remain in the
United States if federal law enforcement determines they are potential
witnesses to trafficking. Victims
also may petition the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services within
the Department of Homeland Security to receive T visas, which are available
to victims who have complied with reasonable requests for assistance to
investigate or prosecute acts of trafficking. Victims who receive T
non-immigrant status may remain in the United States for three years and then
apply for permanent residency. In
fiscal year 2004, the Department of Homeland Security’s Vermont Service
Center received 520 applications for T non-immigrant status, approved 136,
denied 292, and continues to consider 92. Once a trafficking victim has held
T non-immigrant status for three years, he or she may apply to adjust status;
the first T non-immigrant status recipients will become eligible to adjust
status beginning in 2005. The United States is one of the few countries that offers the possibility of permanent residency to victims
of trafficking. Investigations
and Prosecutions of Traffickers In
the past four fiscal years (2001-2004), the Department of Justice has
initiated more than three times the number of investigations (340 vs. 106),
filed almost four times as many cases (60 vs. 16), charged more than twice as
many defendants (162 vs. 69), and doubled the number of defendants convicted
(118 vs. 59) than in the prior four year period. In
fiscal year 2004, the Department of Justice initiated prosecutions against 59
traffickers, the highest number ever charged in a single year. More than half
of those defendants (32) were charged with violations under the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000, and all of those cases involved sexual
exploitation. An
example of a U.S. Government investigation and prosecution is the case of
United States v. Carreto, et al. As the result of
an investigation based initially upon information from the U.S. Embassy in
Mexico, six defendants have been charged with forced labor and organizing and
operating a trafficking ring that smuggled Mexican women and girls into the
United States and forced them into prostitution in Queens and Brooklyn, New
York. The defendants, most of whom are related to
each other, come from a small town in south-central Mexico. They recruited
young, impoverished women in Mexico by forming romantic relationships with
them, with the ultimate goals of smuggling them into the United States and
forcing them into prostitution. Once in the United States, the women were
beaten and threatened to keep them working. Proceeds from prostitution were
taken by the defendants and wire transferred to the defendants’ family in
Mexico. Three defendants have pleaded guilty to trafficking charges, and a
trial is pending as to the remaining defendants. Another
example is the case of United States v. Rojas. In this case, three brothers,
using pseudonyms, engaged in a sex trafficking scheme to seduce young Mexican
women and girls and lure them to the United States with promises of gainful
employment. The defendants smuggled the victims from Mexico to the Atlanta
metropolitan area and then forced them into prostitution through a
combination of psychological coercion, threats, and physical abuse. Upon
their arrival in the United States, the victims were told never to leave the
apartment. The defendants threatened to call the victims’ parents and tell
them the girls were working as prostitutes, and threatened to abandon the
girls without money or support. Thereafter, the victims were made to work
nearly every night of the week, used in prostitution by upwards of 20 men per
night. Arrangements were made for the girls to be taken to various apartments
by taxi drivers. At the end of each night, the taxi driver would keep half
the money earned, and the defendant brothers would keep the other half. The
defendants were charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking, importing and
harboring aliens for the purpose of prostitution, alien smuggling, and
interstate transportation of illegal aliens. Two brothers pleaded guilty in
2004 and were sentenced to 71 months and 57 months in prison. The third
brother fled and is now a fugitive. The
U.S. Department of Justice also led a comprehensive initiative to form 20
multi-disciplinary task forces led by U.S. attorneys in various cities across
the country to address trafficking in areas of known concentration. Under
this initiative, the Department of Justice and its partners, the Departments
of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, have formed, trained,
equipped, and funded teams of state, local, and federal law enforcement,
prosecutors, and victim services providers in a coordinated and proactive
effort to investigate criminal organizations, rescue victims, and hold
perpetrators accountable. An
essential part of the initiative was the convening of a national training
conference called Human Trafficking into the United States: Rescuing Women
and Children from Slavery, held July 14-16, 2004, in Tampa, Florida. Hosted
by the Justice Department, the conference brought together more than 500
attendees composed of 21 teams of about 20 state, local, and federal
officials who could work together to combat human trafficking in their
respective communities across America. President Bush joined Attorney General
John Ashcroft and other senior Bush Administration officials at the
conference. Teams
came from 21 municipalities across the United States. The teams learned how
to uncover and investigate cases, as well as how to provide services to
trafficking victims. The conference emphasized the importance of combating
trafficking using a victim-centered approach that requires proactive law
enforcement strategies and an understanding of the collaborative approach to
human trafficking that includes community members, first responders,
restorative care service providers, victim advocates, as well as state,
local, and federal law enforcement. The
next step of the initiative was to follow up with attendees, conduct initial
task force meetings, provide additional training, and make an announcement of
the newly formed task force. Between June and December, task forces were
formed in Philadelphia; Atlanta; Phoenix; New Jersey; Northern Virginia;
Connecticut; San Francisco; Houston; St. Louis; Tampa; Miami; Orlando;
Washington, D.C.; Portland; Albuquerque; Seattle; Las Vegas; San Antonio; El
Paso; Los Angeles; and New York. The
final step, initially announced at the national conference by the Attorney
General, was the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and its Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) award of $7,674,614 to 18 communities to participate
in the newly formed multi-disciplinary task forces to address the problem of
human trafficking and rescue its victims. These 18 communities were among
those identified by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division as
having a high number of trafficking operations and victims. These local law
enforcement task forces will join forces with victim service providers, as
well as with the local U.S. attorneys and other federal agencies, including
the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, to identify and rescue trafficking victims, including women and
children. Applicants were specifically encouraged to partner with service
providers supported by existing grants from the OVC
or Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.
In early 2005, BJA plans to add three jurisdictions
to this list, making the number of funded task forces 21. In turn, OVC, working in partnership with BJA,
will make awards to develop victim services at task force sites with
insufficient capacity. All
of the task forces are operational, and many have initiated important
investigations. The
Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center In
July 2004, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the
Attorney General established the interagency Human Smuggling and Trafficking
Center. To emphasize its importance, the Center was established under Section
7202 of the Intelligence Reform Act and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The
Center will achieve greater integration and overall effectiveness in the U.S.
Government’s enforcement and other response efforts, and work with other
governments to address the separate but related issues of alien smuggling,
trafficking in persons, and smuggler support of clandestine terrorist travel.
International
Grant Activity The
ideal way to combat trafficking is to prevent the victimization of people in
the first place. Because the United States is a destination country for
trafficked people, prevention activities in which the U.S. Government engages
abroad are particularly important. Through
the State Department, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S.
Government offers a substantial amount of international assistance to help
prevent trafficking in persons and to improve the treatment of victims and
the prosecution of traffickers abroad. The State Department’s Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons also is piloting programs to
address the demand for victims of sex trafficking in Mexico, India, Cambodia,
Costa Rica, and Thailand. In
fiscal year 2004, the U.S. Government supported approximately 251
international anti-trafficking programs totaling $96 million and benefiting
more than 86 countries. This amount reflects part of President Bush’s
anti-trafficking initiative announced at the United Nations General Assembly
in September 2003. The Government of the United States has invested
approximately $295 million in anti-trafficking efforts over the last four
fiscal years. These international programs run the gamut from small projects
to large multi-million-dollar projects to develop comprehensive regional and
national strategies to combat trafficking, improve law enforcement capacity
to arrest and prosecute traffickers, enhance support to victims of
trafficking, and increase awareness of at-risk populations and policy makers
to trafficking. Based
on U.S. Government findings over many years of international development
work, assistance that has had a positive impact on anti-trafficking efforts
includes: development or improvement of anti-trafficking laws; provision of
equipment for law enforcement; economic alternative programs for vulnerable
groups; education programs addressing both the supply and demand sides of
trafficking in persons; training for government officials and medical
personnel; anti-corruption measures; establishment or renovation of shelters,
crisis centers, or safe-houses for victims; establishment of hotlines,
support for voluntary and humane return and reintegration assistance for
victims; and support for psychological, legal, medical, and counseling
services for victims provided by NGOs, international organizations, and
governments. Report
on the Worst Forms of Child Labor The
Department of Labor publishes an annual report mandated by the Trade and
Development Act of 2000 on efforts governments are taking to meet their
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor,
including the trafficking of children for exploitative labor and commercial
sexual exploitation. The Trade and Development Act (TDA)
added government efforts to address the worst forms of child labor to the
list of criteria countries must fulfill to receive trade benefits under the
Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act,
and the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The TDA
Report released in 2004 chronicled the nature and incidence of the worst
forms of child labor and government efforts to combat this problem in more
than 140 countries and territories. International
Engagement The
U.S. Government engages internationally through cooperation with countries
that support the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, which supplements the UN Convention
Against Transnational and Organized Crime, adopted by the UN General Assembly
in November 2000. The United States signed the Convention and Protocol in
December 2000, and the President has submitted them to the Senate for advice
and consent to ratification. Three
other international instruments that address the trafficking in children have
been adopted — ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (which the
United States ratified in February 1999); the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography (which the United States ratified in
December 2002); and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (which the United
States ratified in December 2002). The Department of Labor works with the ILO
to bring international attention to countries’ obligations under ILO
Convention 150, the Abolition of Forced Labor, as well. Training
of NGOs NGOs
have been vital to the U.S. effort to identify and help trafficking victims
as well as to prosecute trafficking cases. The U.S. Government engages in
extensive outreach to NGOs, which are often the first point of contact with
trafficking victims. These contacts foster constructive relationships with
groups that receive and shelter trafficking victims and are often in a
position to encourage victims to come forward and report abuse. Additionally,
in those situations in which law enforcement is actively involved in
liberating victims from servitude, some NGOs can provide safe houses for the
victims. U.S.
Government personnel have been working closely with NGOs across the country
to train service providers on the provisions of the TVPA.
Through such training, federal prosecutors, Federal Bureau of Investigation
and ICE agents, immigration officials and Health and Human Services’
personnel have learned about potential new cases, acquired NGO assistance in
procuring refuge and support for trafficking victims, educated NGOs on the
requirements for identifying a victim of a severe form of trafficking, and
trained service providers on the roles they can play to contribute toward the
success of a trafficking investigation and prosecution. Labor
Programs The
Department of Labor’s International Child Labor Program and the Office of
Foreign Relations supported a number of efforts in fiscal year 2004 through
nongovernmental and faith-based organizations, as well as the International
Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor,
that address trafficking in persons in 16 countries, either as the central
focus of the project or a component of a broader project. These projects provide
reintegration assistance to adult and child victims of trafficking for
exploitive work situations. Project support includes enrollment possibilities
in appropriate educational and vocational training programs, and linking
adults to legitimate work through partnerships with local employers. Projects
promote legislative and policy reform to address trafficking in persons at
the local, national, and regional levels. In
the United States, DOL’s Employment and Training
Administration provides job training grants to states and localities, which
may be used to assist victims of severe forms of trafficking regardless of
individuals’ immigration status. These grants provide job search assistance,
career counseling, occupational skills training, and supportive services to
eligible participants. The
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division is taking aggressive
action to identify and eliminate abusive labor practices that affect the most
vulnerable in our society. Investigators focus on low-wage industries where
labor trafficking victims are most often found. And Wage and Hour staff works
with the consulates of Mexico and other countries, along with NGOs, to reach
out to immigrant communities. Senior
Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons In
February 2002, President Bush established a Cabinet-level Interagency Task
Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The task force is chaired
by the Secretary of State and includes the Attorney General, the Secretary of
Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development. The
Task Force’s responsibilities include coordination and implementation of the
Administration’s anti-trafficking activities. In December 2003, the Task
Force approved the formal establishment of the Senior Policy Operating Group
on Trafficking in Persons (SPOG), chaired by the
director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking
in Persons. The purpose of the SPOG is to bring
together senior policy officials from task force member agencies. This year
the SPOG was responsible for a number of
interagency policy developments including: Coordination
of U.S. agency strategic plans to address trafficking in persons;
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