ICE Rescues Individuals Held in Los Angeles Area Residence and Continues Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking

Immigration & Customs Enforcement officials rescued 44 individuals being held in a house in Riverside, California, following a tip from a concerned relative. The relative called police, saying that the smugglers had threatened to kill his relative, who was being held because the family had been unable to make another payment to secure his release. Los Angeles police in turn alerted ICE to the human smugglers.

After a thorough search of the suspected neighborhood, ICE agents discovered the human smuggling "drop house" in the Riverside area. All 44 individuals were in a small bedroom at the back of the house. The windows were boarded up and the room's only door was locked from the outside. As a further deterrent against escape, all of the individuals had been stripped of their shoes. Some had gone days without food.

Human smuggling is a brutal reality, and remains a problem. As part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "Blue Campaign", ICE has continued its efforts to educate the public about the plight of human trafficking victims. Recently, they have placed an anti-trafficking message in foreign language newspapers across the United States; it will appear in Chinese, English, Korean, Thai, and Spanish. The advertisements highlight some of the indicators of human trafficking. The public can notify ICE by calling 1-866-DHS-2-ICE if they suspect that someone is being exploited.


To read more about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s involvement in these activities:
http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1009/100908riverside.htm
http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1009/100916washingtondc.htm

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Contractors Indicted in the Largest-Ever Federal Human Trafficking Case

Earlier this month in Honolulu, Hawaii, the U.S. Justice Department indicted six contractors for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and document servitude. The contractors, executives of Global Horizons Manpower, are accused of abusing the H2-A guest worker program in 2004 and 2005. The indictment alleges that the company conspired to obtain the forced labor of approximately 400 Thai nationals by enticing them to come to the United States with false promises of lucrative jobs, but then holding them in virtual slavery on farms in Hawaii and Washington State. The defendants made the Thai workers pay high recruiting fees before coming to the United States. Many of the workers were forced to take on crushing debts, secured by their family property and homes, in order to pay the recruitment fees; the indictment further alleges that significant portions of these fees went directly to the defendants themselves. Once in the U.S., the defendants confiscated the workers’ passports and they were forced to live in substandard housing and work for little pay. They were further told that if they complained or fled, they would be fired, arrested, or deported. Most of the workers were unaware of their rights, and felt forced to accept the abuse because if they left, they would be unable to pay off their debts, and so to return home to Thailand would mean their families would lose their land and homes.

This case, the largest human-trafficking case ever brought by the federal government, highlights the continuing need for immigration reform. Clearly there is a need for programs to help low-wage workers know their rights and report abuses, and for stronger legislation to protect the rights of workers coming to the United States.


Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/opinion/08wed2.html?_r=1&ref=immigration-and-emigration
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/September/10-crt-999.html
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/09/largest_federal_human_traffick.php

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The Blue Campaign Aims to Fight Human Trafficking

U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) announced last Friday, July 23, 2010, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Janet Napolitano, launched the Blue Campaign, a DHS-wide program to fight human trafficking “through enhanced public awareness, victim assistance programs, and law enforcement training and initiatives.”

With the Blue Campaign, DHS hopes to prevent human trafficking, assist victims, and hold traffickers accountable, all by utilizing the diverse resources and expertise of the Department. The Blue Campaign will feature new training initiatives for law enforcement and DHS personnel, in addition to enhanced victim assistance efforts, including additional victim assistance specialists and specialized training for law enforcement personnel.

In an effort to educate citizens on how to identify and report indicators of human trafficking, DHS is launching public outreach tools, such as social media, multilingual public awareness campaigns, and a new website dedicated to the fight against human trafficking. To view this new website and access these tools, please visit www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking

To view this news release from USCIS, please visit http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=156a17716700a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

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