Spring Break
In Bondage: The Modern Face of Slavery
Jeffrey Hall
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Opinion
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The crime of human trafficking has only begun to make its way into the American consciousness within the last decade, with horror stories of brutality and subjugation paradoxically both sanitized and sensationalized in the media. Although this increasing awareness has led to government efforts to fight human trafficking, when examined closely, it is clear that these policies serve politicians more than victims.
Although trafficking is associated with immigration concerns in the U.S. (in the form of human smuggling or unlawful transportation across international borders) , trafficking does not require movement; rather, it is the criminal activities involved in subjecting people to bondage for labor through force, fraud, coercion or deception. It can be and often is described as "modern-day slavery."
Human trafficking is a highly profitable criminal enterprise, generating illicit revenue superseded only by drug and arms trafficking. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 victims are trafficked each year around the world, between 14,500 and 17,500 of whom are smuggled into the U.S. Victims begin their journey into bondage in their home country, usually somewhere in Central America, the Caribbean, Asia or Eastern Europe, where recruiters lure them into a smuggling operation through promises of comparatively high-paying, legitimate jobs in the U.S. Smugglers, called "coyotes" by law enforcement, then transport the future victims across vulnerable points in the border. Upon arrival at the destination, the coyotes sell victims to their new masters. The force, fraud and coercion characteristics of trafficking can begin either in transit, with enforcers accompanying victims to ensure the operation's integrity and continue upon reaching traffickers, or upon arrival, when the victims can be surprised to learn that they are now slaves.
Each component of a large trafficking network usually acts as an independent element, but familiar routes develop, forming a slave trade. Though all participants are guilty of trafficking, "traffickers" are those who receive the victims and keep them enslaved. Enforcers and traffickers use intimidation and violence to force compliance, including beatings, sexual assault, and physical restraint; a victim's identification documents are seized to make help difficult to get if they escape. In the long term, most victims lose the will to fight. If they don't, traffickers can also threaten harm to others, often the victims' families back in their home country, by threatening to seize assets used as collateral for smuggling debts like the deeds to family property. Such means keep victims in a condition of involuntary servitude, where they work indefinitely with little or no pay; victims are often kept in debt bondage, where they are forced to work to pay off smuggling debts, yet traffickers do not allow them to reduce the debt.
Although trafficking is associated with immigration concerns in the U.S. (in the form of human smuggling or unlawful transportation across international borders) , trafficking does not require movement; rather, it is the criminal activities involved in subjecting people to bondage for labor through force, fraud, coercion or deception. It can be and often is described as "modern-day slavery."
Human trafficking is a highly profitable criminal enterprise, generating illicit revenue superseded only by drug and arms trafficking. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 victims are trafficked each year around the world, between 14,500 and 17,500 of whom are smuggled into the U.S. Victims begin their journey into bondage in their home country, usually somewhere in Central America, the Caribbean, Asia or Eastern Europe, where recruiters lure them into a smuggling operation through promises of comparatively high-paying, legitimate jobs in the U.S. Smugglers, called "coyotes" by law enforcement, then transport the future victims across vulnerable points in the border. Upon arrival at the destination, the coyotes sell victims to their new masters. The force, fraud and coercion characteristics of trafficking can begin either in transit, with enforcers accompanying victims to ensure the operation's integrity and continue upon reaching traffickers, or upon arrival, when the victims can be surprised to learn that they are now slaves.
Each component of a large trafficking network usually acts as an independent element, but familiar routes develop, forming a slave trade. Though all participants are guilty of trafficking, "traffickers" are those who receive the victims and keep them enslaved. Enforcers and traffickers use intimidation and violence to force compliance, including beatings, sexual assault, and physical restraint; a victim's identification documents are seized to make help difficult to get if they escape. In the long term, most victims lose the will to fight. If they don't, traffickers can also threaten harm to others, often the victims' families back in their home country, by threatening to seize assets used as collateral for smuggling debts like the deeds to family property. Such means keep victims in a condition of involuntary servitude, where they work indefinitely with little or no pay; victims are often kept in debt bondage, where they are forced to work to pay off smuggling debts, yet traffickers do not allow them to reduce the debt.
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