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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Published reports & articles [continued] gvnet.com/humantrafficking/USA.htm |
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ARCHIVES [Part 3 of 4] CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the
USA. Some of these links may lead to
websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to
validate their authenticity or to verify their content. More
Slave-Holding Immigrants in the West Daniel Pipes, Lion's Den, December 16, 2005 www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/12/more-slave-holding-muslim-immigrants-in-the [accessed 12 January 2011] Abdelnasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim, 45, and his former wife Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd Motelib, 43: The
Egyptian immigrants, living in Irvine, California, pleaded guilty today to
four felonies in a child slave case. They admitted bringing a 10-year-old
Egyptian girl in 2000 to the United States and making her work as a servant
for up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, to their family of seven during
August 2000-April 2002. Enslaved in America: Sex Trafficking in the
United States Tina Frundt,
Women's Funding Network, Nov 28 2005 [accessed 12 January 2011] I was
14 years old when I was forced into prostitution. Like many teens at that
age, finding my own identity and defying my parents were top on my list. So
when a man came into my life and showered me with attention and listened to
me when I complained about my parents, I did not think twice that he was ten
years my senior. After all, he said I was mature for my age and told me I
understood him better than anyone his own age. US hands Lithuanian 7-year-sentence for
human trafficking Agence France-Presse AFP, 17 Aug 2007 www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=aececd0c-d55f-4138-80a7-b7d606345ea5&k=93732 [accessed 3 May 2012] business-humanrights.org/en/us-hands-lithuanian-7-year-sentence-for-human-trafficking [accessed 13 October 2016] Michail Aronov, 34, and his business partners "smuggled
women into the United States and compelled them through threats and coercion
to work as dancers in strip clubs, holding them in a condition of involuntary
servitude," the department said in a statement. The human trafficking network used the
guise of a legitimate business, Beauty Search Inc., to cover their criminal conduct, it
added. "These
criminals preyed upon the hopes and dreams of women who came to the US for a better
life, but found only enslavement, exploitation, violence and isolation,"
special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of
investigations in Detroit said in the statement. Hollywood couple sentenced in maid 'slave'
case Breitbart.com, Jan 28, 2008 www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961620/posts [accessed 10 January 2011] Jackson's wife Elizabeth,
54, was given a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to a charge of
forced labor. In passing sentence,
Fischer said Elizabeth Jackson had treated the victim, former schoolteacher
Nena Ruiz, worse than her dog. Ruiz
was forced to eat three-day-old food and to sleep on a dog basket after
working 18 hours a day. Over the course of several months' employment between
2001 and 2002 she was paid only 300 dollars.
"These defendants subjected their victim to what amounts to
modern-day slavery," said Justice Department prosecutor Wan Kim after
the Jacksons pleaded guilty in August last year. In a related civil lawsuit, Ruiz said
Elizabeth Jackson regularly slapped her and pulled her hair. The Jacksons also threatened to turn her
over to immigration authorities if she left them, Ruiz said. Ruiz finally
fled the Jacksons after she was hit in the mouth with a water bottle in
February 2002. Christian Medical Association Doctors: U.S.
Government Must Link AIDS, Anti-Trafficking Efforts Standard Newswire, WASHINGTON, August 01,
2007 www.standardnewswire.com/news/303031411.html [accessed 10 January 2011] Highlighting a
just-published study showing that sex slaves spread AIDS even after their
rescue from human trafficking overlords and pimps, the nation's largest
faith-based association of doctors today called for more concerted U.S.
government action related to the link between AIDS and human trafficking. Dr. Barrows said,
"Health officials have just begun to recognize this link, and stronger
emphasis is needed. Interventions aimed at eradicating sex trafficking,
rescuing and restoring sex-trafficked victims, and preventing future sex
trafficking need to be a more strongly emphasized strategy in the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other AIDS-related programs.
Anti-trafficking measures should be specifically and consistently emphasized
in AIDS-related grant stipulations and proposal evaluations." Enslaved in the U.S.A. - American victims
need our help Donna M. Hughes, National Review Online,
July 30, 2007 www.nationalreview.com/articles/221700/enslaved-u-s/donna-m-hughes [accessed 10 January 2011] www.nationalreview.com/2007/07/enslaved-usa-donna-m-hughes/ [accessed 28 February 2018] President Bush made
combating human trafficking a priority. Both
Attorney Generals Ashcroft and Gonzales have spoken out against trafficking
in the U.S. and made the investigation and prosecution of trafficking
a priority. Most of the focus on identifying and assisting victims and
prosecuting offenders has been on foreign nationals trafficked into the
U.S. There are more American citizens
than foreign nationals victimized by sex traffickers in the U.S., yet there
are no federally funded services for them, particularly if they are over age
17. Company in Pennsylvania, USA Accused of
Trafficking humantrafficking.org, August 05, 2007 --
Adapted from: "Company Accused Of Human Trafficking" www.kdka.com.
16 July 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/669 [accessed 10 January 2011] Workers from
Thailand say they've been made into economic slaves by the company that
brought them to our area. They're 20
men from Thailand who for the past year have picked mushrooms in Armstrong
County. They say they often did not
get paid and now they must return home where they will face enormous debt. Venture into an abandoned
limestone mine in Armstrong County and you'll find hundreds of workers
picking mushrooms in the dark. It's tough work and not enough locals wanted the job so
last year Creekside Mushrooms hired 20 legal guest workers from Thailand
through a California company called Global Horizons. Under the contract, Creekside paid Global
but soon discovered that Global wasn't paying the workers for long stretches
of time. Some nights, the men had to go fishing after work just to feed themselves. "We made multiple
phone calls to the president of the company who then chose not to return any
of my calls or emails and the gentlemen just weren't getting paid,"
Domenic Galassi, an official with Creekside
Mushroom, said. And Galassi says their situation has become even more dire. He says each man paid upwards of $20,000 to a
recruiter in Thailand to come to America on Global's
promise of three years employment. 3 Arrested in Human Trafficking FBI, Jul 3, 2007 presszoom.com/story_135926.html [accessed 10 January 2011] Some factors taken
into consideration to file criminal charges against these individuals
included allegations of victims receiving rationed meals of limited quantity,
the acrobat performers not being paid the salary they were promised, their
passports and work visas being held from them, enforcers watching and
controlling the movements of the performers, and a fear of the performers
that their families in China, as well as themselves, would be harmed if they
attempted to leave. Nevada man sentenced to life in prison on
charges related to the sex trafficking of minors U.S. Department of Justice, Washington,
July 3, 2007 – Press Release 07-482 www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nevada-man-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-on-charges-related-to-the-sex-trafficking-of-minors-52702077.html [accessed 10 January 2011] The evidence at
trial showed that during the first two weeks of May 2005, Doss conspired with
his wife, Jacquay Quinn Ford, to transport two
girls across state lines to work as prostitutes. Doss and Ford transported
the victims -- one 14 and one 16 -- from Nevada to work as prostitutes in Los
Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland. Doss recruited and
transported the 16-year-old victim by the use of force. Las Vegas Acrobatic Troupe Busted For Human
Trafficking Mark Sayre, Investigative Reporter, KLAS-TV
8 News Now www.8newsnow.com/story/6745296/i-team-las-vegas-acrobatic-troupe-busted-for-human-trafficking?redirected=true [accessed 10 January 2011] www.lasvegasnow.com/news/iteam-las-vegas-acrobatic-troupe-busted-for-human-trafficking/81636978 [accessed 2 July 2017] These allegations
involve a Las Vegas-based acrobatic troupe called the China Star Acrobats.
Last week, the FBI says a woman escaped from the home the troupe shared and
contacted Metro police. On Friday,
the FBI and Metro descended near Desert Inn and Grand Canyon. That's
where authorities say they found four adults and five juveniles being held
against their will. State struggles with legal, moral aspects
of human trafficking Brian J. Lowney,
Catholic News Service, PROVIDENCE, R.I., 6/22/2007 [accessed 12 August 2014] www.archbalt.org/rhode-island-struggles-with-legal-moral-aspects-of-human-trafficking/ [accessed 28 February 2018] "I saw the
victims in the brothels," said state Rep. Joanne Giannini,
recalling that many of the prostitutes were minors. "A lot of people
think that it doesn't exist." Giannini said when police have raided these facilities
the women refused emergency social and medical services. "They are
afraid of getting into trouble," she said. According to Garry
Bliss, director of policy and legislative affairs for Providence Mayor David
N. Cicilline, efforts have been made to provide
counseling and social services to the women, but they rejected them, fearing
retribution from their captors – the owners of the establishments who reap
big profits. He believes most of
the women to be in their 20s or 30s, and said some have probably been in this
country for some time, being moved constantly from state to state. They are
initially enslaved to pay off debts incurred in traveling to the United
States. Often, they have come to this country assuming that they are to work
as housekeepers or nannies. "It's
a hole that they can never dig themselves out of," Bliss said.
"These women are not acting on their own free will." Middle Tennessee sees rise in human
trafficking John Bowman, For The Tennessean
Advertisement, 6/22/2007 www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1185511 [accessed 10 January 2011] GIRLS LURED INTO SEX
TRADE
- As a result of November's arrests, Nashville resident Cristina Andres
Perfecto pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial sex trafficking and
admitted luring two Mexican girls to the United States by telling them they
would be employed at a restaurant in Nashville. Perfecto admitted
she knew all along that the girls, who were 13 and 17, would be coerced to
engage in prostitution in brothels in Memphis and Nashville. Perfecto said
physical force and threats against the victims and their families were used
to force the girls to engage in prostitution. Woman Pleads Guilty to Human Trafficking
Related Charges The U.S. At6torney's Office, Southern
District of Texas, News Release, June 5, 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/681 [accessed 10 January 2011] www.standardnewswire.com/news/628101202.html [accessed 28 February 2018] Olga Mondragon is a
47-year-old El Salvadoran national.
She and her co-defendants conspired with others to smuggle female
illegal aliens from Central America to Houston. Once in Houston, Olga Mondragon, working with
other co-defendants held the women and girls in a condition of servitude in
bars owned by the conspirators until the women had paid their smuggling debts
to the defendants. The defendants used
threats of harm to the women and their families to keep the women in a
condition of servitude. Specifically, Olga Mondragon and her co-defendants
threatened that the women's families or children would pay the consequences
if any of the young women attempted to leave before paying their smuggling
debts, including threats of kidnapping and threats to report the young women
to dangerous co-conspirators who could have people killed or burn people's
houses down. Falling Short of the Mark: An International
Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking Victims [PDF] The Future Group, March 2006 www.oas.org/atip/canada/Fallingshortofthemark.pdf [accessed 6 February 2011] lastradainternational.org/lsidocs/13%20Falling%20short%20of%20the%20mark%20(Future%20Group).pdf [accessed 4 February 2019] UNITED STATES - The United
States is complying with its international obligations under the Trafficking
Protocol for the protection of victims of human trafficking. Increasing
approval rates for victims seeking residency and support are encouraging
signs that the system is working and not being abused. The integration of
government and civil society support, which receives some government funding
as well, has had encouraging results. There are some concerns about the needs
of child victims which warrant attention, as well as the degree of pressure
put on victims to cooperate with law enforcement officials. RESIDENCE - Under the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (.TVPA.)78 and Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act (.TVPRA.),79 the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security may issue .T-Visas. to
allow victims of .severe forms of human trafficking. To remain in the country
in order to provide assistance in federal investigations and prosecutions of
those responsible for the harm they have suffered. After three years of
having T-Visa status, victims may apply for permanent residency. Victims may,
in some cases, also apply for non-immigrant status for their spouses and children;
or, in the case of victims under 21 years old, their parents. Fooled Into Sex Trafficking: Female Mexican
Immigrants in San Antonio, Texas Guillermo Contreras, Express-News online,
06/02/2007 www.docstoc.com/docs/80078853/Details-emerge-in-human-trafficking-case-in-San-Antonio [accessed 12 August 2014] yabastablog.wordpress.com/cases-in-texas/ [accessed 17 February 2019] [scroll down to Details Emerge in Human Trafficking Case in San
Antonio] How's $600 to buy
what you'd like simply for accompanying men on trips? We can make it happen,
al otro lado — on the
other side. That pitch allegedly made
by a trio of women sounded like gold to some impressionable teens and a young
woman not making much in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Three girls agreed to be smuggled to the
United States in mid-May and once they were in or near San Antonio, they were
primped, new clothes were bought for them and they were given English
lessons. Their understanding was that they did not have to have sex with the
men. But rather than the
glitz they were promised, they were sold in an underground world for
prostitution, according to prosecutors and documents filed in federal court
Friday. The girls were delivered to a
man in San Antonio referred to in court records as the "boss," who
had them strip, inspected their bodies and told them they were going to be
having sex with men for up to five years to pay off their smuggling debt. The "boss" said he had paid
$3,000 apiece for two of the girls and said he would pay even more to get
them ready for other men, witnesses told investigators, according to their
statements. Anyone who fled would die, and their families would also suffer
the same fate, the statements said. – HTUSAMX Laws Block Trafficking; Sexual Terror
Ignored Alison Bowen and Nouhad
Moawad, Women's eNews,
05/26/07 womensenews.org/story/cheers-and-jeers/070526/laws-block-trafficking-sexual-terror-ignored#.U-pbUqOumdk [accessed 12 August 2014] womensenews.org/2007/05/laws-block-trafficking-sexual-terror-ignored/ [accessed 28 February 2018] The report found
that half of all states' laws now make trafficking a
felony, nine state laws provide restitution to victims and 11 states enacted
laws providing for victim protection. Many Midwestern states, including
Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, had additional laws such as those to
regulate travel service providers that facilitate sex tourism. Report Card on State Action to Combat
International Trafficking [PDF] Center For Women Policy Studies, US PACT
(Policy Advocacy to Combat Trafficking) Program, May 2007 [accessed 15 February 2016] Each state
therefore received five letter grades, one for each type of law —
criminalization, victim protection and services, statewide interagency task
force, regulation of international marriage brokers, and regulation of travel
service providers that promote sex tourism. Each state’s individual report
card includes a brief analysis of the state’s legislation and includes
recommendations for improvements. Fourth Chinese National Pleads Guilty to
Trafficking-Related Charge U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, May
23, 2007 – Press Release 07-380 www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2007/May/07_crt_380.html [accessed 15 February 2016] Each defendant
acknowledged in his or her plea having a role in recruiting and arranging
travel and immigration documents for Chinese females to travel to American
Samoa to engage in prostitution. Upon arrival, the victims, who were unpaid,
were denied access to their passports and return airline tickets, and were
denied the opportunity to leave until they had paid off increasing debts. Beatings, Isolation and Fear: The Life of a
Slave in the U.S. Pierre Thomas, Jack Date and Theresa Cook,
ABC News, May 21, 2007 abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3190006&page=1 [accessed 10 January 2011] Evelyn Chumbow was once a slave, but not in some distant
country. She worked right here in the United States. Chumbow, now 21, was
brought to suburban Maryland in 1996 from her native Cameroon by Theresa Mubang. Mubang promised Chumbow's family that if 11-year-old Evelyn came to
America, she would have the prospect of a bright future and a first-rate
education, as she had been a top student in her native country. Wealthy N.Y. Couple Charged With Slavery Frank Eltman, Associated Press AP, Garden
City, NY, May 23, 2007 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301067.html?tid=informbox [accessed 10 January 2011] The women,
prosecutors said, were subjected to beatings, had scalding water thrown on
them and were forced to repeatedly climb up stairs as punishment for
perceived misdeeds. In one case, prosecutors said, one of the women was
forced to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time. One of the women
also told authorities they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen and
were fed so little, they had to steal food. The women legally
arrived in the United States on B-1 visas in 2002; the Sabhnanis
then confiscated their passports and refused to let them leave their home,
authorities said. Identified in court papers as Samirah
and Nona, the women said they were promised payments of $200 and $100 a
month, but federal prosecutors said they were never given money directly. One
of the victims' daughters living in Indonesia was sent $100 a month,
prosecutors said. Human Trafficking on Long Island, NY humantrafficking.org, May 17, 2007 --
Adapted from: Carrie Mason-Draffen. "Target of
federal task force." Newsday. 16 May 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/635 [accessed 10 January 2011] www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/28litraf.html [accessed 28 February 2018] The Long Island
group was born in the fall of 2004, just months after the arrests of a couple
on Long Island in what was then considered one of the largest
human-trafficking cases in the country. Mariluz Zavala and her
husband, Jose Ibanez, later pleaded guilty to smuggling 69 fellow Peruvian
immigrants and enslaving them in Amityville, Brentwood and Coram. Both are in
prison; Zavala was given 15 years, even longer than prosecutors asked for. Most Wanted Women: Human Trafficking
Mastermind April 30, 2007 [accessed 10 January 2011] The Federal Bureau
of Investigations says this Guatemalan national lured
twelve women -- three mere minors -- with the promise of the American
dream. "What they would do is go
to these countries to the rural areas and recruit women with the promise here
and making good money." After
crossing the border, promised dreams quickly turned in to nightmares as the
victims were forced into street prostitution to work off their smuggling fee. "Often times
they were physically abused if they tried to leave they were beaten up." Human trafficking called a concern for N.
Texas Tod Robberson,
The Dallas Morning News, April 11, 2007 tedvid.com/mosaic/human-trafficking-called-a-concern-for-n-texas/ [accessed 19 June 2013] mosaicservices.org/human-trafficking-called-a-concern-for-n-texas/ [accessed 28 February 2018] Given Kachepa, 20, of Zambia said he was lured out of his
country nine years ago by a Sherman-based Christian group that promised him a
better life in the United States. When he and 10 other boys got here, they
were organized into a choir that toured the nation, earning large fees for
the ministry. Regardless of
sickness or fatigue, they were required to perform up to seven concerts a
day, with no payment. "If we did not
sing, the choir manager would say, 'No singing, no food,' and he would turn
off the gas for the stove so we couldn't cook," Mr. Kachepa
said. "Sometimes we went for three days without having anything to
eat." Modern day slave trade: Human trafficking
continues, even in the U.S. www.liberty.edu/academics/communications/champion/index.cfm?PID=10609&CAID=212 [access date unavailable] According to a
report published on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site, “International
Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of
Slavery and Organized Crime,” 45,000-50,000 women and children are brought to
the United States as slaves every year. The document also reported that the
majority of these victims come from Latin American and Southeast Asia, although
there has been a recent influx of trafficking from Central and Eastern
Europe. “After drug dealing, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing
as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest
growing,” states the United States Department of Health & Human Services
Web site. International Trafficking in Women to the
United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime Amy O’Neill Richard, DCI Exceptional
Intelligence Analyst Program, U.S. State Department Bureau of
Intelligence and Research, November 1999 [accessed 28 February 2018] INTRODUCTION -- Trafficking of
women and children for the sex industry and for labor is prevalent in all
regions of the United States. An estimated 45,000 to 50,000 women and children
are trafficked annually to the United States, primarily by small crime rings
and loosely connected criminal networks. The trafficked victims have
traditionally come from Southeast Asia and Latin America; however,
increasingly they are coming from the New Independent States and Central and
Eastern Europe. Trafficking to the
US is likely to increase given weak economies and few job opportunities in
the countries of origin; low risk of prosecution and enormous profit
potential for the traffickers; and improved international transportation
infrastructures. Though it may be impossible to eradicate trafficking to the
US, it is possible to diminish the problem significantly by targeted
prevention and micro-credit strategies in the source countries; strengthening
the penalties and laws against traffickers in this country; and enhancing
assistance and protections for the victims. Modern-Day Slavery in America Russell Goldman, ABC News, March 26, 2007 abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2981327 [accessed 12 August 2014] Yes, There Are
Slaves in the United States, and the Problem Is Getting Worse. Emily Nicely, 19,
was routinely beaten with broom handles, a metal pipe, belts and wooden
boards. She was forced to quit school,
to do chores and deliver newspapers without pay. She was by any definition -
including those of the federal government and the family that held her
captive for six months - a slave. Man charged with human trafficking Amber Mobley, St. Petersburg Times, Tampa,
March 16, 2007 www.sptimes.com/2007/03/16/Hillsborough/Man_charged_with_huma.shtml [accessed 10 January 2011] Carter said human
trafficking "is something that is coming to our attention more due to
the fact that we have a growing diverse population within Hillsborough County
that could potentially be victims." Victims generally do not report the
crime, because they are in the country illegally, she said. State mobilizes to fight human trafficking Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 02/27/2007 [accessed 10 January 2011] The problem:
Trafficking has proved hard to detect. Victims typically fear retribution and
clam up, experts say. Unlike smuggling, trafficking involves confiscation of
travel documents and other coercion.
The U.S. State Department estimates 14,500 to 17,500 foreign workers
are brought into the country each year via trafficking - part of a $9 billion
global criminal trade exceeded only by illegal arms and drug dealing. The victims of human trafficking www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou070227_ac_humantrafficking.15d0ee5.html [access information unavailable] “I felt more like a
slave,” he told 11 News in Spanish. While
often invisible, the stories are strikingly similar. “They were making sure I was so scared so
that I wouldn’t walk out, or immigration would come get me. “It was really hard for more it was tiring
my feet had blisters,” Diego said. At just 14, Diego
journeyed alone from Honduras to El Paso with an American dream, one that
quickly turned into a nightmare when ranchers took him in and forced him to
clean stalls seven days a week, he said. WJZ Investigates Sex Trafficking Vic Carter, WJZ-Baltimore, CBS
Broadcasting, Feb 23, 2007 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] 19-year-old Chantee was hanging out with two friends in downtown
Baltimore. They decided to go for a ride with an older man, who was a friend
of a friend. They thought they were going for a joy ride, but it would become
much more than that. Human trafficking and slavery still active
practices Sara Kincaid, Bismarck Tribune, February
21, 2007 www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_50f3e445-6e70-50de-90fa-becc1695ceb4.html [accessed 10 January 2011] People can be sold
repeatedly, Atkinson said. This creates a tier of markets and prices, based
on how worn a person has become in the sex or labor trade, he said. In the
sex trade, people get sold overseas when they reach the lower prices. “From there, they die and never come back,”
he said. Human Trafficking Plaguing Maryland Vic Carter, WJZ-Baltimore, CBS
Broadcasting, Feb 21, 2007 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] Lidia and her
daughters came to Maryland from Asia to get married to a man they thought they
could trust. But when the three arrived, he made them his personal servants.
He beat them and fed them only once a day. "We were kept in one room, me
and my daughters", said Lidia.
The man also seized their passports, and while Lidia was forced to work
outside the home for no money her children did house chores. "Each day I
came home I had a scary feeling, that I might not see my kids." Human Trafficking Victims May be Hidden in
Plain Sight Kate Ryan, WTOP Radio, Rockville, Md, February 20, 2007 www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=1066983 [accessed 11 January 2011] They are kidnapped,
branded and forced into prostitution. Or they are lured from their home
countries to the U.S. with the promise of jobs as nannies and housekeepers
and then, "once they get to the United States, it turns into quite a
nightmare." Man pleads guilty to smuggling women for
prostitution in brothel ring Associated Press AP, Austin, Texas,
2/10/2007 www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-10-immigrant-brothel_x.htm [accessed 11 January 2011] The ringleaders
sneaked hundreds of women into the United States, most of them from Latin
American countries, and forced them to have sex with as many as 40 men a day,
according to the court documents. They moved the women from brothel to
brothel and kept the earnings.
"The prostitutes reported they were not free to leave the
brothels on their own, and the brothel operators were usually armed with
firearms," according to the filing. Lawsuit accuses Connecticut nursery of
human trafficking John Christoffersen,
Associated Press AP, February 8th, 2007 www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14351 [accessed 11 January 2011] A dozen Guatemalan
workers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing one of the nation's largest
nurseries of engaging in human trafficking by forcing them to work nearly 80
hours per week, paying them less than minimum wage and denying them medical
care for injuries on the job. The workers, who
filed the lawsuit against Imperial Nurseries in Granby and its labor
recruiter, say they were promised jobs planting trees in North Carolina for
$7.50 per hour. Instead, they say they were taken in a van to Connecticut
without their consent, had their passports confiscated so they would not
escape and were threatened with arrest or deportation. "These workers
came here lawfully to earn a living and support their families," said
Nicole Hallett, a Yale Law School student helping the workers. "Instead
they were defrauded and trapped into conditions of forced labor." U.S. intensifies fight against human
trafficking Terry Frieden,
Cable News Network CNN, Washington, February 1, 2007 www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/01/us.human.trafficking/ [accessed 11 January 2011] A senior U.S.
Justice Department official estimated about 15,000 victims of human
trafficking arrive in the United States annually, some as young as 9 years
old, destined for jobs in brothels, as unpaid domestic servants, or in other
jobs as virtual slaves. The victims
represent a source of continuing income for the rings that provide them,
making human trafficking more attractive than drug smuggling to some criminal
syndicates, authorities said. Tall Americano, Hold the Paycheck Sarah Stuteville,
co-founder of The Common Language Project, Seattle Weekly News, Jan 31 2007 www.seattleweekly.com/2007-01-31/news/tall-americano-hold-the-paycheck/ [accessed 19 June 2013] A Tacoma teen's
coffee shop servitude shows that human trafficking isn't just about sex
slaves. When Abdenasser "Sammy" Ennassime
returned home to visit his family in Morocco six years ago, he could brag of
a bustling coffee shop, a baby son, and an American wife to show for his more
than two decades in the United States.
In this light, Ennassime's suggestion to
bring his adolescent niece, Lamyaá, to his home in
Tacoma to help with the new baby—in return for enrolling her in school and
guiding her toward U.S. citizenship—was seen as the magnanimous gesture of a
generous uncle. Woman Pleads Guilty to Forcing Juvenile
Girls Into Prostitution In Memphis PRNewswire-USNewswire,
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2007 www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/woman-pleads-guilty-to-forcing-juvenile-girls-into-prostitution-in-memphis-53807402.html [accessed 11 January 2011] www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nashville-tennessee-woman-sentenced-sex-trafficking-charges [accessed 17 February 2019] At her plea hearing,
Perfecto admitted that she told the girls, who were 13 and 17 years of age at
the time, that they would be employed at a restaurant in Nashville, knowing
all along that the girls would be coerced to engage in prostitution in
brothels in Memphis and Nashville.
Perfecto further admitted that co-defendant Juan Mendez then used
physical force and threats against the victims and their families to force
the victims to engage in prostitution. Legislation targets human trafficking in
state Gordon Fraser, Eagle-Tribune, January 14,
2007 -- Sources: U.S. State Department & U.S. Department of Justice www.eagletribune.com/nhnews/x1876313753/Legislation-targets-human-trafficking-in-state?keyword=secondarystory [accessed 11 January 2011] www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2003/September/03_crt_481.htm [accessed 2 March 2018] Bradley and O'Dell,
of Litchfield, were convicted in 2003 of forcing four Jamaican men to work
for their tree-cutting business. The men lived in unsanitary and unsafe
conditions, and received no pay for their work, according to Zuckerman. Both
Bradley and O'Dell were sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison. The slaves of New York Errol Louis, Columnist, NY Daily News,
January 14, 2007 [accessed 12 August 2014] Albany needs to
wake up and pass a law that will quash human traffickers and protect the most
vulnerable. Human slavery - not just crummy
pay and lousy work conditions, but outright forced servitude, including the
kidnapping, buying and selling of people - is going on in New York City,
which is a major hub and destination in a monstrous, global slave trade. The modern resurgence of this ancient
horror will continue for exactly as long as cynical politicians and an
apathetic public allow it. "Pimps promise
to smuggle the impressionable girls into the United States, telling them they
can get jobs as nannies, cooks and maids - making enough money to support
their families back home," Bode wrote. "These traffickers charge
the girls as much as $7,500 in illicit crossing fees - but once they get to
the United States, the girls are raped and forced into prostitution. By the time the girls realize they have
been kidnapped, it's too late for them to escape." Human trafficking is 'alive and well' in
U.S. Maura Possley,
Bradenton Herald, Manatee, January 14, 2007 www.smfws.com/articles2007/januaryfebruarymarch2007/art01142007.htm [accessed 11 January 2011] Human trafficking
most commonly is found in the sex trade, but also plagues the lives of
farmworkers, domestic servants and hotel and restaurant workers. The $10 billion annual revenue generated
through human trafficking, Colletti said, can start
like it did for a Chinese girl, "Maria." Maria is not her
name but is a documented example of trafficking. She was sold in China for
$2,000 and taken to France. She was then shipped to the United States, where
she was sold to her owner for $8,000.
Maria logged 12-hour days in a Florida manufacturing company and
received $20 per week. She earned $55,000 annually for her owner but had to
pay from her own pocket for housing and food. New Yorkers Draw Attention to Human
Trafficking Marianne McCune, WNYC News, New York, NY,
January 11, 2007 www.wnyc.org/story/81769-new-yorkers-draw-attention-to-human-trafficking/ [accessed 15 February 2016] REPORTER: Human trafficking
is a crime, but there's no state law against it - only federal authorities
can go after the people who force women to prostitute themselves. But federal
prosecutors don't have the resources to go after low profile, smaller-scale
traffickers, so Jane Manning of Equality Now says it's outrageous that New
York hasn't joined 21 other states and made it a crime. MANNING: There are
traffickers all over NYC getting way with it. REPORTER: New York is a hub
for traffickers but when police encounter prostitutes here, they're not
trained to recognize which are victims of trafficking and they have little
power to go after the trafficker. Thais Receive Compensation and Visas in Los
Angeles Human Trafficking Case humantrafficking.org, April 04, 2007 --
Adapted from: Gred Risling. "Thai workers get money, visas in LA
human trafficking settlement." Mercury News. 8 December 2006 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/575 [accessed 11 January 2011] www.mercurynews.com/2006/12/09/thais-brought-to-u-s-will-be-compensated-for-labor-abuses/ [accessed 2 March 2018] Ten people were
hired to work on the Bay Bridge retrofit by Trans Bay, a manufacturer of
hinge pipe beams. Others worked in two Thai restaurants owned by Kim in the
Los Angeles area. The restaurant workers were kept in safe houses where they
slept on floors and were given scraps of food, Martorell
said. Some of them were paid about $200 over three months, despite working
seven days a week, 10 hours a day, she said.
It wasn't until one of them escaped and went to the Thai community
center that an investigation was launched. Officials decry trafficking of women for
sex
[PDF] W. Zachary Malinowski, The Providence
Journal, Providence, November 29, 2006 www.citizensagainsttrafficking.com/uploads/Officials_decry_trafficking_of_women_for_sex.pdf [accessed 3 May 2012] www.slideshare.net/guest51fcc4/sex-trafficking [accessed 2 March 2018] Campbell said the
women work, sleep and eat in the dingy massage parlors that are run from
storefronts near the State House, downtown and on South Main Street. “They work from the
time they get up til the time they go to bed,” he
said. “They don’t go home at night.” Campbell said the women, mostly between
the ages of 20 and 50, sleep on mattresses and cook from Sterno
cans in the back rooms. Feds raid human trafficking ring Rocky Mountain News, November 22, 2006 m.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/Nov/22/feds-raid-human-trafficking-ring/ [accessed 12 August 2014] Citing unnamed law
enforcement sources, CBS 4 News said the raid disrupted the ring that
allegedly has imported hundreds of Korean women into the United States and
forced them into prostitution as a means to pay off their debts. The women were
charged up to $18,000 to get into the country, according to CBS 4 News
reporter Brian Maass. The station reported
dozens of the women were working throughout the metro area, advertising on
adult Web sites and through word of mouth. Human Trafficking Charges Filed The New York Sun, November 2, 2006 www.nysun.com/new-york/human-trafficking-charges-filed/42748/ [accessed 11 January 2011] The immigrants were
charged between $13,000 and $19,500. Those who failed to repay their
smuggling debts were physically threatened, a federal prosecutor, Winston
Chan, said yesterday at the arraignment.
In one instance, a defendant, Oktavian Kupchanko, said he would have the wife and daughters of
one of the immigrants raped because the immigrant was behind on his debts,
according to a court papers filed by prosecutors. Human trafficking focus of workshop bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=142413&zoneid=500 archive.bangordailynews.com/2006/10/28/human-trafficking-focus-of-workshop/ [accessed 12 August 2014] Part of the problem
has been that those smuggled into this country, whether on promises of a
better life, other false pretenses or coercion, have largely been treated as
criminals themselves, he said. The victims have faced prostitution charges
and in the case of them being here illegally, face deportation back to their
own country where living conditions could be equally bad or worse. The image of the
victim as criminal seems to be changing, largely
prompted by a federal law change in 2000 that Gilbert said establishes
provisions for treating the victims as refugees. The provisions include the
possibility of a special trafficking visa and the prospects of housing and
employment assistance and medical and mental health services, if needed. The idea is to take
a new approach to an old problem by bringing in social services and law
enforcement on the ground level, identifying indicators of possible
trafficking so that the traffickers can be caught and those that they
smuggled in can be helped. Human Trafficking in Minnesota Susan Gaertner,
Ramsey County Attorney, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 9, 2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] Minnesota social
service groups have assisted up to 500 sex trafficking victims and 55 labor
trafficking victims in the past three years, according to results of a study issued
last month by the state Department of Public Safety and reported in the Sept.
16 Star Tribune. The study confirms my experience as a prosecutor that human
trafficking is a much bigger issue than had been imagined in our state. Trafficking victims
may be desperately poor, dependent on drugs, in a country illegally, or just
a kid running away from home. Whatever the vulnerabilities, traffickers
create situations in which their victims are nearly powerless -- from
beating, raping and starving them, to hooking them on drugs, to taking away
their passports or other documents and threatening to deport them. Federal human trafficking bust implicates
downtown establishment Jennifer Park, The Brown Daily Herald,
April 26, 2007 [accessed 26 August 2011] Many of the women
who were brought to the United States to work in such establishments came
from Korea in the hopes of making money to support their families but were
caught in the grasps of debt bondage and sold their bodies to pay off transportation
costs, according to the Department of Justice press release. Brothel owners
and managers often confiscated the women's identification and travel
documents, and some of the women worked under threats of harm to their
families back home. Woman Gets 10 Years For Human Trafficking Anthony M. Destefano,
Newsday, 9/29/06 www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711248/posts [accessed 11 January 2011] A tearful woman was sentenced to just over 10 years in federal
prison Friday for her role in a human trafficking operation that enticed
women from Korea to come to the U.S. to work as hostesses at a Flushing bar. Anti-Human Trafficking Law Helps Workers
But Many Still Afraid Associated Press AP, FORT MYERS, FL,
9/25/2006 archive.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=65647 [accessed 12 August 2014] Advocates say the
public is increasingly aware of the plight of young girls kidnapped or
tricked into working in brothels. They say, however, that too often the cases
of farm workers forced to work off ballooning smuggling debts through fraud
or coercion are shrugged off as part of the illegal immigration issue. Officials name sex slave suspect Gil Brady, Casper Star Tribune, Jackson,
September 21, 2006 trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_85e04b9c-c610-5c5d-9aa0-1f85e735d265.html [accessed 11 January 2011] Investigators say
the girl, who was 13 years old at the time, told a teenage girlfriend, also
alleged to have been smuggled and forced to have sex for money with many men
here, of her plan to escape to Mexico. Affidavits say the friend informed one
or both of their captors, a reportedly 32-year-old Idaho carpenter and a
42-year-old Jackson restaurateur -- both in custody -- of the escape plan.
That caused the alleged coyote-ringleaders to threaten to kill a man the
13-year-old victim said she “had met and liked” in Phoenix if she tried to
run away, the documents say. 5 Charged In Alleged Human Trafficking
Scheme KMBC-TV, Kansas City, Mo., September 19,
2006 www.kmbc.com/news/9888106/detail.html [accessed 11 January 2011] Authorities said that
the victims thought they had signed up for a student-work program, where they
could earn as much as $10,000 over the summer. Instead, they allegedly worked
13-hour days, seven days a week. One student earned what amounted to 87 cents
an hour. In addition,
investigators said that eight of them shared two, one-bedroom apartments that
had a television and a mattress.
"The defendants cut the students off from nearly all forms of
communication -- no telephone, no Internet," Schlozman
said. Investigators said the students
were also told their movements were being tracked by a global positioning
system device. Don’t sweep human trafficking under the rug Editorial, September 15, 2006 www.jweekly.com/article/full/30364/don-t-sweep-human-trafficking-under-the-rug/ [accessed 11 January 2011] Media coverage of
human trafficking has alternated between the polar extremes of nonexistence
and hysteria — a New York Times Magazine story in 2004, for example, referred
to an “epidemic” of trafficking and published numbers that, in retrospect,
seem grossly inflated. The irresponsible
use of the word “epidemic,” a hallmark of trend journalism, takes the
emphasis away from where it should be. The issue isn’t the statistically
dubious claim that human trafficking and sexual servitude are swelling
uncontrollably in the United States, it’s that the situation exists at all. Fear-mongering and
hysteria are not helpful. What is helpful is the approach taken by the D.A.’s
office and Jewish Coalition: Find a way to get these women away from their
captors and set aside money for such programs — as new state laws do — while
energetically prosecuting human traffickers. Human trafficking investigated in American
Samoa Radio New Zealand International RNZI News,
10 September, 2006 www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=26684 [accessed 11 January 2011] www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/164603/human-trafficking-investigated-in-american-samoa [accessed 17 February 2019] Court affidavits
filed in the government’s case against two Chinese nationals believed to be a the forefront of the prostitution ring indicate that
young Chinese women were promised jobs at a store. They instead were forced in to
prostitution. Human trafficking is the new face of
slavery in America Malea Hargett,
Editor, Arkansas Catholic. September 9, 2006 www.arkansas-catholic.org/news/article/629 [accessed 15 February 2016] In Arkansas, awareness
of trafficking abuse is low -- but it's probably happening out there.
Immigrants and women are at highest risk. Catholic Charities is collaborating
with the FBI and other organizations in the Arkansas Civil Rights Working
Group to raise awareness and help spot cases. Anti-trafficking expert teaches training
course Janine Zeitlin, Naples Daily News, August
18, 2006 www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/aug/18/antitrafficking_expert_teaches_training_course/?local_news [accessed 11 January 2011] Another emerging
problem in the human trafficking world is gangs, he said. California gangs
are starting to venture into the lucrative crime by recruiting girls from
U.S. elementary and high schools into prostitution with the promise of good
money and nice clothes, he said. But conditions soon change and girls are
forced to stay, he said. Some girls are trafficked out of state, said Castro,
noting that San Diego law enforcers have three or four such open
investigations. 5 D.C. Spas Raided In Human-Trafficking
Case nbc4.com & Associated Press AP,
Washington, August 16, 2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] [scroll down] Authorities have 31
people in custody and more than 70 suspected Korean sex slaves were freed.
Investigators said the suspects smuggled Korean women through Canada and
Mexico. To help pay off their smuggling fee, the women were forced to work in
brothels in seven states -- including Maryland -- and the District. Seen, but not heard Miriam Rozen,
Texas Lawyer, August 7, 2006 business.highbeam.com/437285/article-1G1-149150547/seen-but-not-heard [Last accessed 11 January 2011] digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&context=nmlr [accessed 2 March 2018] At the recent
sentencing hearing of Mi Na Malcolm, the madam's victims
— women who worked as prostitutes at Dallas brothels — finally had the chance
to tell a federal judge about their horrific experiences since coming to the
United States. Yet they did not speak.
Assistant U.S.
Attorney Sarah Saldana recalls that the four women, who had worked in this
country without proper documentation, told her they were too afraid to talk
in the Dallas courtroom — even though they faced no criminal charges
themselves, and telling their stories to the judge might bolster their visa
applications. Such victims often fear retribution from those who kept them
captive, and they don't trust the authorities to help them, Saldana says. Immigrant sisters admit charges in human
trafficking John P. Martin, Star-Ledger Staff, August
04, 2006 www.alipac.us/f12/immigrant-sisters-admit-charges-human-trafficking-33642/ [accessed 12 August 2014] Two Honduran
sisters admitted yesterday that they helped smuggle dozens of illegal female
immigrants -- some as young as 14 -- into the United States, then forced them
to live together and work at North Jersey bars. The admissions by Noris Elvira and Ana Luz Rosales-Martinez, during a
federal court hearing in Trenton, brought to five the number of guilty pleas
in what authorities say was a case of indentured servitude. Under questioning
from prosecutors, the women said they helped oversee dozens of illegal
Hondurans who were forced to work six days a week and live in cramped Hudson
County apartments until they could repay smuggling fees as high as $20,000. The immigrants
earned $5 an hour, plus tips, by dancing and drinking with male patrons at
bars in Union City and Guttenberg. One ring member said the girls were
encouraged to prostitute themselves; another said they were beaten if they
ignored the house rules. Woman sentenced to 10 years in human
trafficking case Associated Press AP Worldstream,
Dallas, July 19, 2006 www.utopiaguide.com/forums/showpost.php?s=ef470286c9c9d6c0c5236463ab3397b1&p=582023&postcount=13 [accessed 11 January 2011] www.myplainview.com/news/article/Woman-sentenced-to-10-years-in-human-trafficking-8731517.php [accessed 17 February 2019] A Korean woman who
admitted making illegal immigrant women pay off their smuggling debt through
prostitution was sentenced today in Dallas to ten years in prison. Mi Na Malcolm,
known as Sora, also was ordered to pay a
460-thousand dollar fine. She must forfeit a B-M-W, a Lexus, more than
218-thousand dollars in cash, and electronic equipment. 3 men sentenced for roles in bar
prostitution ring Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle, Houston,
TX, July 18, 2006 business.highbeam.com/5874/article-1G1-148316461/3-men-sentenced-roles-bar-prostitution-ring [partially accessed 11 January 2011 -
access restricted] Two members of a
ring that smuggled Central and South American women into the United States
and forced them into prostitution were sentenced to a maximum of five years
in prison. A third was sentenced to four years. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Ruben Perez said the case is evidence of a major shift toward more
aggressive investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases since the
formation of the alliance of law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental
organizations that work with victims. What is FREE? f.r.e.e.-international www.free-international.org/about.html [accessed 11 January 2011] New York City is an
ethnically diverse city with a large population of undocumented migrants,
some who may have been trafficked. Although statistics are difficult to
ascertain, New York City is considered to be a main port of entry and transit
area for trafficking because of its airports, rail and bus stations, and
ports. In a report on human trafficking in the
United States published in 2000 by the United States Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport is listed as one of
the top five ports of entry for victims of trafficking in the United States. Human Trafficking Federal News Radio, 1500 AM, July 12, 2006 www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=29&sid=847080 [accessed 11 January 2011] In June 2004, Senzatimore's group initiated an investigation into a
suspected trafficking organization operating out of Long Island, New York.
They found the largest human trafficking operation ever uncovered in the
United States. Thanks to their work,
the trafficking ring has been dismantled, the leader of this effort is behind
bars, and more than 80 people, including several children, have been freed
from this modern-day slavery. Defense Department Combats Human
Trafficking Steven Donald Smith, American Forces Press
Service, Washington, June 22, 2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] Trafficking in
persons is a commercial trade where human beings are subjected to involuntary
acts such as prostitution or indentured servitude, which many feel
constitutes a modern form of slavery. Force, fraud and coercion are methods
used by traffickers to obtain and recruit persons. McGinn said the Defense Department is
focused on two areas: the overseas sex exploitation industry near U.S. areas
of operations and the employment practices of civilian contractors supporting
DoD operations overseas. McGinn said the
department is concerned about trafficking in persons for labor purposes, and
stressed that it is important that defense contractors overseas do not take
advantage of trafficked labor. The
human trafficking rule contained in the Defense Federal Acquisition
Regulation gives the overseas commander the contract management tools
necessary to hold contractors accountable for their labor practices and their
employees' actions, she said. U.S. cash fuels human trade Cam Simpson and Aamer
Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 9 October 2005 [accessed 12 August 2014] American tax
dollars and the wartime needs of the U.S. military are fueling an illicit
pipeline of cheap foreign labor, mainly impoverished Asians who often are
deceived, exploited and put in harm's way in Iraq with little protection. Conference Held on Human Trafficking Reported by Angela An, ONN-TV News, Jun 20
2006 Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 13 August 2014] Tina Frundt with the Polaris Project says, You get tired of
every day and living, you get tired of someone beating you every day, you get
tired of sleeping with twenty to thirty men every day, you get tired and you
hit rock bottom. Frundt was only 14 when a
man in Cleveland forced her into commercial sex. Today, she calls herself a
survivor of human trafficking. Human Trafficking In North Texas Jack Fink Reporting, CBS 11 News, Jun 12,
2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] The changes also
acknowledged they held women against their will at their $330,000 Coppell
house. The couple watched them closely with video surveillance cameras at
their house and business and had employees guard the exits. Federal agents arrested the Changs in April of last year after one of the five women
being held inside the house managed to escape. Prosecutors say she jumped out
of a second floor window. Coalition to battle human trafficking Saundra Amrhein,
St. Petersburg Times, Fort Myers, June 9, 2006 www.sptimes.com/2006/06/09/State/Coalition_to_battle_h.shtml [accessed 11 January 2011] Many victims fear
coming forward because captors threaten to kill them and their families. Some
victims are U.S. citizens - runaways or homeless. Others face language and
cultural barriers, she said. During
the past 11 months, Rodriguez's coalition has worked with nine victims in
Florida from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala - two adults, six girls and a
boy, she said. Legalizing Human Trafficking Basav Sen [freelance
writer and activist in Washington, D.C.], Dollars & Sense, 2006/0506 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] For six months,
Francisco* was a prisoner of his employers. He was housed in a trailer in
rural central Florida with six other men from Mexico, Guatemala, and
Honduras. He would work from dawn until dusk picking oranges, earning an
unbelievable $15 a week. He and his fellow workers were watched by armed
guards and repeatedly threatened that they would be killed if they tried to
run away. Vigilance Needed in Fight Against Human
Trafficking New America Media, Commentary, Hediana Utarti and Kavitha Sreeharsha, San
Francisco, May 29, 2006 news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7cff91dbcbc45f06a8a6d7b69538f010 [accessed 26 August 2011] The maid revealed
that despite being promised a part-time job and a work visa, her employer
paid far less than minimum wage, did not offer breaks, held her travel
documents, isolated her from calling her family, and threatened to call the
police and immigration authorities. She spoke little English and had no idea
who she could call for help. Wisconsin Couple Convicted on Human
Trafficking Charges U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, May
26, 2006 – Press Release 06-332 www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2006/May/06_crt_332.html [accessed 12 January 2011] The Justice
Department today announced the conviction of a Wisconsin couple, Jefferson
and Elnora Calimlim, on human trafficking charges
for using threats of serious harm and physical restraint against a Philippine
woman to obtain her services as their domestic servant for 19 years. Jefferson and
Elnora Calimlim, both doctors in Milwaukee, held
the victim in a condition of servitude for nineteen years, requiring her to
work long hours, seven days a week, as a domestic servant for the Calimlim family. The Calimlims
threatened the victim with deportation and imprisonment if she disobeyed
them. They also confined her inside their home, not allowing her to socialize
with others, communicate freely with the outside world, or leave the house
unsupervised. The victim was required to hide in her basement bedroom
whenever non-family members were present in the house. Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery, Part
1 Lauren Burgoyne, WSAW, May 22, 2006 www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/2844911.html [accessed 12 January 2011] Nineteen
trafficking cases were reported to The Greater Milwaukee Area Rescue and
Restore Coalition over the past year. Incidents were reported in cities like
Milwaukee, Spencer, Waukesha, Brookfield and in
Jefferson and Fond Du Lac Counties.
Victims are forced to work with no pay or freedoms in restaurants,
resorts, factories on farms and in suburban neighborhoods. A new bid to halt toll of human trafficking Claire Cooper and Christina Jewett, The
Bee, May 20, 2006 – [story appeared on Page A16 of The Bee] At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] Florencia Molina's
sewing teacher in Puebla, Mexico, unwittingly wrote Molina and herself
one-way tickets into slavery. Good
jobs, food and housing awaited them in the United States, the teacher said.
Molina had three days to decide. Both
women learned after arriving in Los Angeles that the jobs were sewing dresses
for 17 hours a day with three 10-minute breaks for beans and rice. New Process Benefits Victims of Human
Trafficking Seeking College Aid [PDF] U.S. Department of Education, May 9, 2006 humantrafficking.unc.edu/files/2011/09/Dept.-of-Ed-Press-Release-re-Financial-Aid.pdf [accessed 12 January 2011] Victims of human
trafficking who cooperate with law enforcement officials to prosecute
traffickers will benefit from a new, streamlined process to apply for and
receive federal financial aid for postsecondary education, announced today by
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Three charged in alleged human trafficking
scheme Wish TV 8 Indy, Indianapolis, 4 May 2006 www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?s=4861097 [accessed 13 August 2014] www.alipac.us/f12/men-accused-holding-20-people-1-bedroom-apartment-23077/ [accessed 2 March 2018] Marion County
prosecutor Carl Brizzi is charging three men with
holding about 20 undocumented immigrants in a one bedroom Indianapolis
apartment. Brizzi
says the three … threatened to kill the immigrants if they tried to leave. The man says he escaped,
but some of the coyotes confronted him at an Indianapolis bus station, where
a Sheriff's deputy overheard them and the investigation began. Human Trafficking Is Modern Day Slavery,
Prostitution Is Involved Cynthia Bercowetz,
Author/Consumer Advocate, Bloomfield CT, May 03, 2006 www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/ReleaseDetails.aspx?ID=12524&CFID=3644675&CFTOKEN=90442020 [accessed 12 January 2011] But trafficking
also occurs in forms of labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude or
restaurant work, sweatshop, factory work or migrant agricultural work. Victims serve in
wealthy residents' homes, migrants trapped in the fields trying to pay off a
debt they never will be able to pay to captors who helped smuggle them into
the country. Children are smuggled into the country and sex slavery. Millionaire NY Couple Charged With Human
Trafficking www.change.org/news/view?news_id=826 [access date unavailable] Two Nassau County
residents are charged with using physical abuse, threats of physical abuse
and physical restraint against two Indonesian females working as domestic
servants at their residence. Mission woman found guilty of human trafficking Associated Press AP, Edinburg, May 6, 2006 www.myplainview.com/article_d4ac5fa2-3e15-586b-803e-0e0f12c8fcd3.html [accessed 19 June 2013] Prosecutors say Ellilian Ramos paid a smuggler $250 to bring the two
women across the Rio Grande in November 2004. The women, cousins Maria de
Jesus Batres and Floridalma
Sales Flores, were forced to work at Ramos' home without pay, authorities
said. Batres and Sales say the couple promised to pay them $125 a week after smuggling costs
were worked off. Instead, Ellilian Ramos
didn't pay them and threatened to call immigration authorities if they tried
to leave. The women said they
also worked for the Ramos' family members and at Papacito's
Day Care, which is owned by Ellilian Ramos' sister.
Both women escaped through a window on Jan. 11, 2005, with help from two
women they met at the business. Waipahu man convicted of forcing immigrants
to work Posted: Apr 28, 2006 -- Probable Source:
khon.com/khon/display.cfm?storyID=13180§ionID=1150 www.alipac.us/f12/waipahu-man-convicted-forcing-immigrants-work-22166/ [accessed 13 August 2014] A Waipahu man
convicted of forcing immigrants to work under slave-like conditions will
spend 26 years behind bars.
56-year-old Lueleni Maka
smuggled young men from Tonga and forced them to work for his landscaping and
construction business. They worked
and lived at his Nanakuli pig farm. Victims testified that they worked long
hours and only made $40 to $100 a week. Sometimes they were paid
nothing. If their work was
unsatisfactory, they said Maka would beat them. New push to combat human trafficking Lolly Bowean,
Chicago Tribune, April 23, 2006 www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0604230252apr23,0,4744942.story [accessed 12 January 2011] Victims of human
trafficking blend in with the community as they toil as nannies, servants,
laborers and sweatshop and construction workers, said a top Illinois official
at the Saturday launch of an outreach campaign aimed at fighting the problem. The campaign is
intended to alert people to look for signs of abuse that indicate workers
have been forced into servitude, said Carol Adams, director of the state
Department of Human Services. Key Witness missing in CO slavery case
against Homaidan Al-Turki
and Sarah Khonaizan Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 8th, 2006 missingexploited.com/2006/03/08/key-witness-missing-in-co-slavery-case-against-homaidan-al-turki-and-sarah-khonaizan/ [accessed 12 January 2011] www.summitdaily.com/news/key-witness-missing-in-slavery-case-against-saudi-couple/ [accessed 17 February 2019] An Indonesian woman
who was kept as a virtual slave and who was also a key witness against a
Saudi Arabian couple, Homaidan Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan.
A modern day slavery case where the victim was forced cook
clean and was sexually abused. Sex Trafficking of American Youth [PDF] Stop Trafficking! - Anti-Human Trafficking
Newsletter, Vol.4 No.3, March 2006 homepage.mac.com/srjeanschafersds/stoptraffic/archives/stoptraff43.pdf [accessed 14 August 2011] ANTI-HUMAN
TRAFFICKING NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRAFFICKING
OF AMERICAN CHILDREN Kris, age 15, was
lured from a Brooklyn party by four people she met there, raped and nearly
forced into a life of prostitution.
She is not a runaway. She's a
typical New York teen, a good student who comes from a strong, loving and
supportive family ... Ellen, a 16-year
old runaway, was forced to work for a NJ prostitution ring that operated out
of motels ... Debbie, 15 years
old, the middle child in a close-knit Air Force family from suburban Phoenix
and a straight-A student, was kidnapped from the driveway of her home one
evening. Tied up, threatened and
driven around Phoenix for hours, she was drugged and brought into a building
where six men gang-raped her. They
advertised her on Craigslist in a
section entitled "Teen Love". Three Mexican Nationals Convicted of Sex
Trafficking United States Attorney, U.S. Department of
Justice, Houston TX, February 6, 2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] At this
re-arraignment hearing on Friday, February 3, Jose Luis Moreno Salazar
admitted that in 2004 he, along with another, illegally smuggled a then 15
year old juvenile Mexican girl, M.R.G., into the United States, knowing she
was a minor and compelled her to serve as a prostitute through the use of
force, fraud and coercion for the financial benefit of the
conspirators. Jose Luis Moreno Salazar lured M.R.G. from her
family by professing love and claiming she would live with him as his common
law wife. The evidence proved that once in Houston, Jose Luis Moreno
Salazar housed M.R.G. and other women and girls in apartments leased by
members of the organization and transported them to area bars for the purpose
of prostitution. Jose Luis and his co-conspirators provided instruction
to the women and girls regarding how to service clients and required them to
turn over their prostitution proceeds at the end of each day for the benefit
of the conspirators. Jose Luis and others threatened the women
and girls to create a climate of fear to compel and maintain their service as
prostitutes. Jose Luis subjected M.R.G. to beatings for perceived
infractions. The beatings were committed with a belt, a wire hanger, or
a cable. For disobedience, M.R.G. was also threatened with a knife and
beaten by other co-conspirators at the behest of Jose Luis. M.R.G. was
17 years old when she was rescued by investigating agents in September 2005. Sex rings prey on immigrant women Franco Ordoñez,
Charlotte Observer, January 29, 2006 [accessed 12 January 2011] SUPPLY AND DEMAND - Human
trafficking often begins with someone paying to be smuggled across the
border. The situation changes when smugglers increase their prices or add
fees the person is unable to pay. Smugglers then force them into work to pay
off the debt. For women, the work is often prostitution. In all, between
20,000 and 50,000 victims are trafficked yearly into the United States,
including thousands in North Carolina. They are also forced to work in
factories, migrant farms, construction and domestic work. Most victims in
Charlotte come from Central and South America, but some others come from Asia
and Eastern Europe. Emancipation 2006 - Saving innocents from
modern-day slavery (a work in progress) Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review NRO
Editor, January 26, 2006 www.nationalreview.com/articles/216606/emancipation-2006/kathryn-jean-lopez [accessed 13 August 2014] www.nationalreview.com/2006/01/emancipation-2006-kathryn-jean-lopez/ [accessed 2 March 2018] According to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigations into trafficking
"increased by more than 400 percent in the first six months of fiscal
year 2005, compared to the total number of cases in fiscal year 2004."
Although keeping true numbers on these elusive crimes is next to impossible,
according to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 14,500 and 17,500 people
are being traded within the United States. Mexican national pleads guilty to bringing
sex slaves to Houston-area bars Associated Press AP, Houston, January 17,
2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 13 September 2011] Salvador Fernando
Molina Garcia, 37, an illegal immigrant, has pleaded guilty to smuggling
girls and young women from Mexico into Houston and forcing them to work as
prostitutes in local bars, according to federal officials. The single count
superseding indictment re-alleges that Gerardo Salazar, 40, is the leader of
a group of men who smuggled minor girls and young women from Mexico into the
United States. Using deception, threats of harm, physical force and
psychological coercion, Salazar compelled their service for prostitution in
Houston area bars. Slavery Slips Through Cracks in U.S. Policy Michelle Chen, 05 July 2005 -- Source:
newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2032 Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 12 January 2011] Bernstein, whose
group handles a constant flow of slavery cases, listed some typical scenarios: An offer to earn
good wages and study lures a teenage girl abroad, where she is forced to work
eighteen hours a day as a housekeeper Aided by a smuggler,
a young man’s passage across the US-Mexico border ends with a crushing debt,
to be repaid through captive manual labor. Salvadoran
Nationals in the U.S. Arrested for Sex Trafficking Scheme U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE, Houston TX, 19 December 2005 www.nyjtimes.com/cover/12-19-05/SalvadoransSexTraffickingScheme.htm [accessed 12 January 2011] fleshploitation.blogspot.com/2006/02/salvadoran-natls-implicated-in.html [accessed 2 March 2018] According to the
complaint, one young woman earned about $500 to $600 a week selling drinks to
male customers. But after paying debts that included alien smuggling fees,
food, housing, clothing and other miscellaneous items, she received
approximately $50 each week. In addition to the almost insurmountable debt,
the complaint alleges that the defendants used threats of violence against
the women and their families to control them and keep them working. The
complaint alleges that the defendants compelled the woman and girls to submit
to the sexual demands of the defendants, their close associates and bar
patrons. U.S. crackdown on child prostitution hits
Michigan David Ashenfelter,
Detroit Free Press, December 17, 2005 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 13 September 2011] Two Toledo girls --
one 14 years old, the other 15 -- were held against their will and forced to
perform sex for pay at hotels in Ohio and a truck stop in Michigan, according
to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday in Detroit. Los Angeles Woman Pleads Guilty To Human
Trafficking Charge For Bringing Niece To U.S. To Work As Prostitute U.S. Department of Justice, Los Angeles CA,
December 6, 2005 – Press Release 05-164 www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2005/164.html [accessed 3 May 2012] www.unodc.org/cld/case-law-doc/traffickingpersonscrimetype/usa/2006/united_states_v._okhotina.html [accessed 2 March 2018] According to a plea
agreement filed today, in January 2003, Okhotina
paid for a ticket for her 18-year-old niece to fly from Russia to Los
Angeles. When the teenager arrived in Los Angeles, she lived with Okhotina at her apartment. Soon after, Okhotina took possession of her niece’s passport and told
her that she would have to work as a prostitute. Okhotina coerced her niece
to work as a prostitute by telling her that she would be arrested if she went
to the police because she was here in the United States illegally. Okhotina also told the niece that if she left the
apartment, or if Okhotina made her leave the
apartment, she would have no place to stay and would be on the street. As a result of this
coercion, the teenager engaged in prostitution in California and Las Vegas,
Nevada. Okhotina took the money that her niece
received for prostituting herself. Sex slavery is big business Nancy Holland, KHOU-TV – Channel 11 News -
Houston TX, 16 November 2005 www.thesilverbraid.org/sex%20trafficking.htm [accessed 12 January 2011] Earlier
this week, eight people were charged with smuggling 100 girls from Central
America into Houston and forcing them into prostitution. The victims are brought here from Southeast
Asia, Latin America, the former Soviet Union and the continent of Africa. Police target
human trafficking Kevin Corcoran, Indianapolis Star, 28
November 2005 -- Source: www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051128/NEWS01/511280394/1006 Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 12 January 2011] In
Indiana, at least 2 inquiries are under way into rings that push people into
prostitution, slavery. Marlene Harpi arrived in Indianapolis from New York in June 2001,
believing she would be starting a $500-a-week baby-sitting job. The Honduran woman, then 34, was told
instead she would be working as a prostitute in a duplex in the 3000 block of
West 16th Street. Her captors warned her that she would "disappear"
if she tried to flee. [more] All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - USA",
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