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Showing posts with label U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Show all posts
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Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Friday, October 17, 2014
U.S., Colombian authorities break up sex-trafficking ring with underage boys and girls | Fox News Latino
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – In a joint operation between the United States and Colombia, in recent days authorities broke up a major sex-trafficking ring that used drugs to force underage boys and girls into prostitution.
Check out this article:
U.S., Colombian authorities break up sex-trafficking ring with underage boys and girls | Fox News Latino:
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The face of human trafficking - Al Jazeera Blogs
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/americas/face-human-trafficking
SOURCE: Al Jazeera Blogs
SOURCE: Al Jazeera Blogs
Kristen Saloomey is Al Jazeera's correspondent in New York.
Shandra Woworuntu once paid $3,000 to a broker expecting to get a job in a Chicago hotel and her ticket to the American dream. Instead, the then 25-year-old from Indonesia got sold into prostitution, literal sexual slavery.
Now, at 36, she spends her free time talking about the dangers of human trafficking.
"Forgetting is not the solution," Shandra told me. She wants to make people aware that this crime is happening, often right under their noses.
Talking about such a horrific experience is one thing, last week she actually took me to one of the many places where she had been locked up.
Her captors trafficked her to several locations in New York and Connecticut over the course of a month in 2001. This was the last one, the apartment building she had escaped from.
It sits on a corner in a neighbourhood known as Sunset Park, New York, home to many recent immigrants, where many of the storefronts bear Chinese lettering. The building she took me to looks like any other Brooklyn tenement building. For Shandra, however, it was living hell.
She pointed out the wrought iron bars covering all of the first floor windows, ostensibly to keep intruders out but also serving to hold her and two other Indonesian women in.
A bouncer slept in front of the door. Whenever they changed locations – the customers like variety - they travelled with an escort who held a gun to their backs. But soon after arriving at this location she discovered a possible way out: a small bathroom window that didn't have a lock or bars covering it.
It is bricked over now, but you can make out where it was thanks to the different color of the bricks, about three metres off the ground. Shandra had screamed for a shower and so the women were allowed into the bathroom. They turned on the water to disguise any noises and Shandra climbed up and, at barely 100 pounds, wriggled through. The window was so small that one of the other women didn't make it out.
The two who escaped promised to come back for her – and they did - but it took over a month of living on the street to find help from law enforcement. When Shandra first tried telling their story, the police either didn't understand her broken English or didn't care. Her captors had taken all of her identification. Finally, Shandra met someone who put her in touch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Human trafficking is not a crime typically associated with the United States, even though it is estimated that half of international trafficking victims end up here. Like Shandra, the victims are generally looking for a better life and get trapped.
One recent federal bust involved a dozen individuals who are now charged with trafficking Mexican women to the greater New York area. Many of them were wooed into romantic relationships with their captors and then, once far from family and all that is familiar, told they'd have to sell themselves to help pay the rent.
"The women were sometimes beaten, threatened with violence both sexual and physical and their families were threatened," explained James T Hayes Jr, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations' New York office, adding they were forced to have sex 20 to 30 times a day. Ultimately many were threatened with deportation.
"The women were sometimes beaten, threatened with violence both sexual and physical and their families were threatened," explained James T Hayes Jr, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations' New York office, adding they were forced to have sex 20 to 30 times a day. Ultimately many were threatened with deportation.
"It's a really heart-breaking ordeal."
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance notes there has been a shift in the way law enforcement handles these cases. In the past, the women might have been charged with prostitution. Now, there is greater recognition that the women are generally unwilling participants.
Vance has created a special unit in his office to handle human trafficking cases, combining experts in sex crimes and money laundering. He has also begun working with banks to identify financial clues that could serve as red flags for investigators looking for evidence of human trafficking.
"The way to attack sex trafficking and human trafficking is to understand that what we are dealing with here is a business," Vance explains.
And it is a growing one. The Polaris Project estimates 14,500 to 17,500 men and women are trafficked into the US from other countries. Tens of thousands more Americans, primarily children, are also trafficked.
Such evidence could help prosecutors rely less heavily on the testimony of traumatised victims.
Shandra had to tell her story over and over again to the investigators who ultimately put her captors behind bars, a feat many victims are not up to. Their road to recovery is long. Shandra still receives counseling and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Visiting Sunset Park was not easy for her. Seeing the room with the bars on the window brought back lurid memories – but it was only after our cameras stopped rolling that her composure cracked.
She wondered out loud why no one ever told the authorities that men – no women or children - were coming in and out of the building at all hours. The window with the bars is barely a metre from the street.
Monday, April 29, 2013
We Shouldn't Be Wearing Slave Labor on Our Sleeves - Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-25/we-shouldn-t-be-wearing-slave-labor-on-our-sleeves.html?goback=%2Egde_4165508_member_236102691
Source: Bloomberg
By Lisa Beyer Apr 25, 2013 12:24 PM ET
Source: Bloomberg
By Lisa Beyer Apr 25, 2013 12:24 PM ET
It makes sense that U.S. federal law forbids the importation of goods produced using forced labor. It makes less sense that a loophole virtually nullifies the rule: A product can't be blocked under the law unless the U.S. makes enough of it to meet domestic needs. In other words, as long as there's a market for the tainted item, it's free to enter.
The provision, within the Tariff Act of 1930, was intended to ensure the U.S. was supplied with exotic goods such as rubber, tea and coffee at a time when those goods were often produced on forced-labor plantations abroad.
In today's globalized economy, importers have enough choice to avoid such suppliers. But with the exemption intact, even if the U.S. has evidence an incoming shipment contains tainted products, it generally has no reason to act.
Congress has an opportunity to update the law as it considers the reauthorization of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A five-year authorization bill proposed by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus and ranking member Orrin Hatch would remove the loophole.
If the bill passes and the amendment survives, as it should, customs would then be able to hold or reject, for instance, a shipment of clothing containing Uzbek cotton. Each year, the government of Uzbekistan, the world's third largest cotton exporter, forces schoolchildren into the fields to bring in the harvest. Because the U.S. grows plenty of cotton, Uzbek cotton produced this way arguably can't enter the U.S. legally. However, garments containing the cotton can, since Americans import more than 97 percent of what they wear.
Cashews, which aren't grown commercially in the U.S., are another import an empowered customs could target. The U.S.'s top supplier is Vietnam. Part of Vietnam's output comes from government centers where alleged drug users are confined without due process and forced to process the nuts, which are then sold to private companies for export.
Cocoa, which in the U.S. is cultivated only in Hawaii, is another item to watch. In Cote d'Ivoire, the world's leading supplier of cocoa, the use offorced child labor in the industry has beenwidely reported. Since 2001, major chocolate companies have vowed to make their cocoa child-labor free but keep delaying the deadline.
If the Tariff Act were stripped of its antiquated exception, U.S. consumers wouldn't have to rely on the promises of corporate executives to keep their markets free of goods corrupted by slave labor. They could rely on the law.
(Lisa Beyer is a member of the Bloomberg View editorial board.)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Mira Sorvino at Anti-Human Trafficking Symposium - C-SPAN Video Library
https://www.facebook.com/BlueHeartHT
Source: Blue Heart Campagin
Source: Blue Heart Campagin
"Beyond Awareness: Putting the Human Back in Human Trafficking". This was the impassioned message by UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Human Trafficking, Mira Sorvino, speaking at an event to mark the end of National Slavery Month in the US. Check out her full video below, or visit http://j.mp/TIKdVato read her speech.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Notice to US citizens: Your actions abroad may have serious consequences
http://m.ice.gov/news/releases/1210/121017washingtondc.htm?f=m
Source: ICE
Source: ICE
OCTOBER 17, 2012
Press Release
WASHINGTON – American tourists, with twisted overseas travel plans to engage in child sex tourism, may think they are beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. However, they should know that it is a priority for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to apprehend and prosecute U.S. citizens who engage in sexual acts with minors in foreign countries.
Millions of American citizens travel abroad on a regular basis. While the vast majority of them are law abiding, some commit sexual crimes against minors in foreign countries. Each year, over a million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. Child sex tourism involves people who travel from their home country to another and engage in commercial sex acts with children. Child sex tourism is a shameful assault on the dignity of children and a form of child abuse and violence. For the minors involved, these acts have devastating consequences, which may include long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism and possibly death.
Tourists engaging in child sex tourism often travel to developing countries looking for anonymity and the availability of children in prostitution. The crime is typically fueled by weak local law enforcement, corruption, the Internet, ease of travel and poverty. These sexual offenders come from all socio-economic backgrounds and may hold positions of trust. Previous arrests for child sex tourism involving U.S. citizens have included: a pediatrician, a retired Army sergeant, a dentist, a Peace Corps volunteer and a university professor.
In 2003, the United States strengthened its ability to fight child sex tourism by passing the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act (PROTECT Act) and the Trafficking Victim's Protection Reauthorization Act. These laws carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison for engaging in child sex tourism. In the nine years since these laws were strengthened, HSI special agents have arrested 93 suspects on child sex tourism charges.
"Our message is clear to all U.S. citizens: We take these crimes seriously," said Peter Vincent, director of HSI's Office of International Affairs. "If you dare abuse a child abroad, we will find you, send you back to the United States and prosecute you for your crimes. You might be out of the country, but you are not out of reach of U.S. law enforcement."
HSI has 73 offices in 47 foreign countries around the world that serve as the agency's liaison to counterparts in local government and law enforcement. HSI's attachés abroad are critical in investigating these crimes.
Just last week, Jesse Osmun, 33, a former Peace Corps volunteer, was sentenced in Hartford, Conn., to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing four girls, all under the age of 6, while he was a volunteer in South Africa. He never expected that HSI special agents would arrest him for crimes he committed nearly 8,000 miles away from his Connecticut home. HSI's office in Connecticut – working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut – has had two other recent cases involving child sex tourism. Edgardo Sensi was sentenced in January to 85 years in prison for production of child pornography and sexual tourism offenses related to his sexual abuse of minor girls in the United States and Nicaragua. Douglas Perlitz was sentenced in December 2010 to nearly 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 16 minor victims over the course of a decade in Haiti.
"I am proud to partner with HSI in prosecuting U.S. citizens who abuse children abroad," said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, District of Connecticut. "I am hopeful that the cases we have successfully prosecuted in Connecticut will serve as a deterrent to others who would partake in these illegal acts. The Department of Justice will continue to devote resources to protecting children worldwide."
HSI's Child Exploitation Investigations Unit investigates the trans-border, large-scale production and distribution of images of child abuse, as well as individuals who travel abroad to engage in sex with minors. The unit employs the latest technology to collect evidence and track the activities of individuals and organized groups who sexually exploit children through the use of websites, chat rooms, newsgroups and peer-to-peer trading. These investigative activities are organized under Operation Predator, a program managed by the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit.
"If you are molesting children, I advise you to turn yourself in and get help," added Vincent. "The law will catch up to you no matter where you are. If you continue your crimes against children, you should always be looking over your shoulder because we will hunt you down to the ends of the earth in order to protect innocent children from being violated. There will be no refuge for child sexual predators who believe that they may victimize children outside the United States. No place is too distant or too remote to escape the attention of HSI."
To learn more about HSI, visit www.ICE.gov/HSI.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Gangs Enter New Territory With Sex Trafficking : NPR
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/14/142300731/gangs-enter-new-territory-with-sex-trafficking?ft=1&f=2
by Carrie Johnson 
by Carrie Johnson
Enlarge David Goldman/AP
A placard featuring the photo of a child sits on a table during a conference on human sex trafficking last month in Atlanta. In Fairfax County, Va., gang members who have forced girls as young as 12 into prostitution are being sent to prison. Prosecutors there expect to bring more sex trafficking cases against gang members over the next several months.
November 14, 2011
The MS-13 gang got its start among immigrants from El Salvador in the 1980s. Since then, the gang has built operations in 42 states, mostly out West and in the Northeastern United States, where members typically deal in drugs and weapons.
But in Fairfax County, Va., one of the wealthiest places in the country, authorities have brought five cases in the past year that focus on gang members who have pushed women, sometimes very young women, into prostitution.
"We all know that human trafficking is an issue around the world," says Neil MacBride, the top federal prosecutor in the area. "We hear about child brothels in Thailand and brick kilns in India, but it's something that's in our own backyard, and in the last year we've seen street gangs starting to move into sex trafficking."
Enlarge Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Weapons and paraphernalia from gangs are displayed during a news conference in 2006. Authorities in Fairfax, Va., have brought five prostitution cases in the past year against gangs. One member of the MS-13 gang was recently sentenced to life in prison for sex trafficking.
In Virginia, at least, the consequences can be severe. Over the past few weeks, one member of MS-13 nicknamed "Sniper" got sent to prison for the rest of his life. Another will spend 24 years behind bars for compelling two teenage girls to sell themselves for money.
Usually, investigators say, gang members charge between $30 and $50 a visit, and the girls are forced into prostitution 10 to 15 times a day.
It's easy money for MS-13 — thousands of dollars in a weekend, with virtually no costs. Except for alcohol and drugs to try to keep the girls off-kilter.
Often, the activity takes place at construction sites, in the parking lots of convenience stores and gas stations.
"Yeah, this last case we worked, the victim was 12 years old," says John Torres, who leads the Homeland Security Investigations unit at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Washington.
He says the girl, a runaway, approached MS-13 gang members at a Halloween party. She was looking for a place to stay. Within hours, she was forced to work as a prostitute.
"You have a gang that's taking advantage of people that are in a desperate situation, usually runaways or someone that's looking for help from the gang," Torres says.
Joshua Skule, who oversees the violent crime branch of the criminal division at the FBI's field office in Washington, lists some reasons for street gangs' move into sex trafficking.
"It is not like moving, or as risky as moving narcotics. It is not as risky as extorting business owners," he says. "And these victims really have no way out."
Skule says they're like modern indentured servants. The 12-year-old girl involved in one of the recent sex trafficking cases is safe now, authorities say. But she'll be dealing with the physical and emotional scars for many years.
"When someone leaves, there's a lot of shame and guilt associated with the time they were there," says Victoria Hougham, a social worker who helps victims and survivors of sex trafficking.
"They may have physical injuries which can impact, especially for young women, their sexual and reproductive health."
Hougham works with Polaris Project, a nonprofit that runs a 24-hour hot line that helps connect victims of human trafficking with police or social services. She says survivors of that kind of abuse do best when they reconnect with their families and get support from law enforcement.
Prosecutors in Virginia say they expect to bring more sex trafficking cases against gang members over the next several months.
Sex Trafficking In The U.S.
The U.S. first outlawed trafficking of people during the Civil War. Today, all 50 states prohibit prostitution under state and local laws. But in fiscal year 2009, government-funded programs identified more than 700 potential foreign trafficking victims, in addition to 1,000 potential American trafficking victims. Along with 27 other nations, the U.S. listed itself in the top tier of compliance in the latest report, but notes that the U.S. is "a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking". Here are a few figures.
22: Prosecutions of sex trafficking cases (2009)
18: Percent of sex trafficking victims (all women) of all foreign adult trafficking cases (2009)
38: Percent of sex trafficking victims (16 percent boys) of all foreign child trafficking cases (2009)
206: Males under 18 arrested for prostitution or commercialized vice (2008)
643: Females under 18 arrested for prostitution or commercialized vice (2008)
12,133: Males arrested for prostitution offenses (2008)
26: Arrests, indictments and convictions of U.S. citizens involved in child sex tourism (2009)
—Tasnim Shamma, NPR
Related NPR Stories
Human Trafficking And The Terrible 'Price Of Sex' June 23, 2011
Trafficked Teen Girls Describe Life In 'The Game' Dec. 6, 2010
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
South Florida a "Perfect Storm" For Human Trafficking | NBC Miami
Investigators say South Florida contributes to an estimated $32 billion human trafficking industry worldwide Source: NBC Miami
Posted Saturday, Sep 17, 2011 - 8:46 AM EDT
Source: NBC Miami
Source: NBC Miami
By Sharon Lawson
View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.
In Miami, a dirty secret lies beneath the cosmopolitan veneer.
"When you look at South Florida," said Carmen Pino of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "we are like the perfect storm...for human trafficking.
"And now you have organized crime that's taken hold of things and they're working to make billions of dollars off that industry."
Pino, an assistant special agent in charge of homeland security investigations in Miami, investigates the trafficking of people internationally and across state lines. The victims, he says, are exploited for labor, domestic servitude or commercial sex.
"It's an absolute huge problem," said Pino.
A recent report estimated $32 billion a year in profits from the 27 million people victimized worldwide.
The number one group at risk by traffickers in America, experts say, is runaways.
Sandy Skelaney, who went from being homeless to getting a masters degree from Yale University, now works at the Kristi House in Miami, a child advocacy center that works with children who are sexually abused. She manages Project Gold, a program that works with girls who have been sexually exploited.
For three years Skelaney called the streets home.
"I was surrounded by young people who were being victimized in the industry," said Skelaney. "They target them and know where to find them."
Florida ranks 3rd in the country for lucrative human trafficking. Law enforcement agencies are trying to get the message out through public service announcements, education and awareness.
Adriane Reesey, a liaison with the Broward Sheriff's Office and President and chair of the Broward County Human Trafficking Coalition, says disturbing trend here in South Florida finds criminals using force, fraud, or coercion to entice the vulnerable.
"It is here and it's in our backyard and in our neighborhoods," said Reesey.
Posted Saturday, Sep 17, 2011 - 8:46 AM EDT
TRAFFICKING MONITOR: See also
NBC Miami: HumanTrafficking
Uploaded by NBCMiamiMarketing on Sep 14, 2011
Friday (Sep. 16th) at 11p on NBC Miami
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Modern Day Slavery an Issue for Riverview Lawmaker - New Tampa, FL Patch
Tampa Bay has been identified as a hub for human trafficking activity by some officials.
The 16-year-old mentally challenged girl was living a life of unimaginable abuse and daily degradation, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee. Source: New Tampa, FL Patch 
The 16-year-old mentally challenged girl was living a life of unimaginable abuse and daily degradation, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee.
In a form of modern-day slavery, she was transported from one migrant farm worker camp to another, throughout Eastern Hillsborough County, where she was forced to commit sexual acts with anyone willing to pay her captor.
An investigation in 2010 by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, U.S, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area Human Trafficking Task Force led to the arrest of Mario Alberto Laguna-Guerrero, 25.
“This girl was rescued from a nightmare, which could only have gotten worse," said Gee. "The teamwork among law enforcement agencies cannot be underestimated when it comes to protecting children and the innocent. There is one less predator on the streets, and one more reason that this task force is so valuable."
If convicted as charged, Laguna-Guerrero faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
That may be one human trafficker who’s now off the streets, said Gee. But there are more lining up to take his place.
According to the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, human trafficking involves the commercial exchange and exploitation of humans including forced prostitution and pornography, involuntary labor, servitude and debt bondage.
It’s a growing problem worldwide, recently rising to the second most common criminal activity behind the illegal drug trade. Currently, there are approximately 27 million people enslaved throughout the world with 2.5 million located in the United States. Each year, 600,000 to 800,000 more people are being trafficked worldwide, according to the coalition.
Florida, and Tampa Bay in particular, has been identified as a hub for human trafficking activity.
That’s one of the reasons state Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, got involved.
“Florida is one of the top three states for human trafficking, behind New York and California,” said Burgin. “And most of that activity is taking place right here in Tampa Bay.”
Burgin displayed a Department of Justice map. The map uses circles to indicate where incidents of human trafficking are most prevalent. One of those circles sits on top of Tampa Bay.
Burgin said she was unaware of the severity of the problem until she happened to attend a national conference in Washington, D.C.
“I was seated next to a woman who started an international organization to stop human trafficking,” she said. “She told me about her international work and the significant increase in human trafficking over the past few years. I was surprised to learn how pervasive the problem is. I began looking into it and discovered that Tampa Bay is a hub for such activity.”
In fact, seemingly innocuous storefronts along Kennedy Boulevard and Dale Mabry Highway are actually fronts for human trafficking operations, said Burgin.
“You see them all over the place, massage parlors with signs that say they’re open until 2 a.m. seven days a week,” she said. “What kind of legitimate massage parlor is open until 2 a.m.?”
Other signs indicate directions to a rear entrance so patrons can enter the establishment surreptitiously.
“In these places, women are brought in, usually staying for no more than six days, and forced to perform sexual acts,” said Burgin. “The businesses are well-known by law enforcement. The problem is law enforcement must actually catch them in the act in order to prosecute them. And that’s very difficult to do.”
Working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Burgin authored a bill in 2009 designed to empower law enforcement.
In addition to increasing the penalties for those convicted of the crime, Burgin’s bill would require massage parlor employees to have identification on them at all times.
“One of the ways the traffickers hold these women hostage is by taking away their identities,” said Burgin. “Without a passport, visa or other documentation, these women can’t escape. They can’t travel, they can’t do anything.”
Her bill would require massage parlor employees to carry a valid U.S. passport, driver’s license or Employment Authorized Document. That would give law enforcement authorization to request identification, and determine who’s working illegally, she said.
That first year, Burgin’s bill passed the House but failed to pass the Senate. She reintroduced it last year, joining forces with Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. This time it passed the Senate but the House rejected it.
Its failure baffles Burgin.
“There are differing opinions on what’s important in Tallahassee,” said Burgin. “Because they don’t have human trafficking there, I think it’s not perceived as a big problem. It’s not an issue people want to talk about or even acknowledge it exists. But it’s a very big problem in Tampa Bay.”
Undeterred by the Legislature’s acquiescence on the issue, Burgin plans to reintroduce her bill during the 2012 legislative session. This time she believes the it will get the attention it deserves due to the national attention the issue is now receiving.
On June 27, U.S. Sen. Mark Rubio, R-Fla., issued a statement on human trafficking based on a recently released report from the U.S. Department of State. “This important report is a chilling reminder of how prevalent this dehumanizing practice is all over the world,” said Rubio. “I am also concerned that Florida is disproportionately affected by this scourge, requiring our own vigilance.
“With the input from Sen. Rubio, maybe it will become more of a priority,” said Burgin.
As law enforcement has discovered, a disproportionate number of the victims are from other countries, said Burgin.
“They’re either tricked into coming here with the promise of a job or they are sold into slavery by a relative,” said Burgin. “They come from all different countries – Asia, the Middle East, Central America, Africa and Europe. Every person’s story is different but they have one thing in common – they are being forced to work in unpleasant environments under duress.”
What’s especially disturbing to Burgin is the changing profile of the victims.
“It used to be most of the victims were in their 20s,” she said. “Now the biggest age group is 13 to 17 years old. It’s a horrible crime. And we need to find a way to protect these children.”
Monday, July 11, 2011
Regaining trust, a session at a time - TODAY News - TODAY.com
"I remember one particular young woman," recalled the caseworker who works with victims of sexual trafficking. "She was brutally beaten; her skull was cracked open. She was forced to go out and work (as a prostitute) two weeks after that.
"However, she only told us about the incident a year later. That's when she could finally talk about it."
The caseworker, who requested that her name withheld, works at Tapestri, an organization in Atlanta that helps victims of sexual trafficking regain their lives after the unspeakable horrors of sexual trafficking and slavery.
"Human beings first start from a place of trust," said Allen Keller, director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture.
"That has been hard-wired since we were born. For these victims, that has been turned on its head," Keller added. "So even if they are now physically free, they are psychologically imprisoned."
Another caseworker at Tapestri, whose name is also being withheld, recounted how she had to gain the trust of a woman who had been enslaved for 10 years until she was able to escape a trafficker.
Story: Potent weapon to stem sex slavery often left unused"They spend what feels like their whole life listening to the trafficker - 'Do not trust immigration, do not trust, do not trust' - and then we say, 'I'm here to help you,' and they have the 10 years in the back of their head and they look at you like, 'Sure.' They worry they will be prosecuted."
The caseworkers at Tapestri explained that many of the victims they have treated did not even know they were coming into the United States illegally."The trafficker makes them believe he has the documents," said one of the caseworkers. "Once they are here, he tells them that they are illegal and says, 'If you don't want me to beat you or report you, you have to work as a prostitute.'"
Actions, not just words
How do professionals at nonprofits and immigration agencies persuade victims who have been stripped of trust to trust again?
"What makes them gain trust is action," said one of the Tapestri caseworkers. "Taking them to the doctor, helping them get clothing, counseling, English-as-a-second-language classes - whatever their immediate needs are, we help them."
Taking care of a trafficking victim's immediate physical needs is very important for their mental healing, said Keller, whose program has helped victims of torture from around the world.
"A trafficking victim who has been repeatedly raped or beaten may have real physical pain. Any time they have physical pain, even if it is not related, it triggers fear and terror, sadness and humiliation," he said.
After a trafficking victim's physical needs are addressed, immigration authorities and caseworkers then work at an even harder task - gently persuading these women to talk of their captivity. This is important for two reasons: It helps the victims, most of them undocumented, secure legal status, and it helps authorities prosecute a trafficking ring.
Story: Qualifications for a T-visaTaking that step is tough, said Keller, whose program trains asylum officers in effective interviewing skills.
"I've treated many individuals who were tortured in other countries. They still have profound fears and terrors, but at least their torturers are far away," he said. "For victims of sexual trafficking in the U.S., their traffickers are here and the victims are under their control."
'He was lying to you'
Alia El-Sawi is a victim assistance specialist for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, in the Atlanta area. She recalls how she has persuaded sex trafficking victims that much of what they have been told is simply not true.
"With some of the recent Latino trafficking victims, traffickers have used the romancing tactic," El-Sawi said. "We talk to the women about how the trafficker deceived them, was unfaithful, lied to them and forced them into heinous acts. Many of these victims then come to the realization that it's OK to be angry."
Another tactic traffickers use is the fear of immigration authorities.
"We had one young lady who had really been brainwashed by her trafficker," El-Sawi said. "He had told her U.S. immigration authorities would put her in jail and not feed her, as well as punish her and use cruelty. Once the victim saw we had taken her to the doctor and given her food and clothing, she started to trust us after a few interviews."
Caseworkers also appeal to the victims by reminding them that the traffickers are still plying their trade and that other girls and women are in danger.
"In one case, a young lady and her sister were lured into forced prostitution. The traffickers threatened to get other family members. So we homed in on how much justice she would be bringing to those other girls who could not escape," El-Sawi said.
But just as important, victim specialists spend time persuading these women that it was not their fault.
"We stress this happens in all communities across the board. We take away the piece of shame and we tell them it is not their fault, it's universal, and there are horrible people with very manipulative sides," El-Sawi said.
How long does it take for a young woman to trust the caseworkers and immigration specialists? Sometimes it takes only one or two interviews.
But El-Sawi recalled the case of a young Asian woman who was extremely reluctant to talk. "It took almost half a year before she could trust us to help her. That was one of the hardest cases," she said.
Caseworkers also say the best way to help regain the victims' trust is to tell them stories of former victims, women who received help.
"It's easier to relate to personal stories and not just facts," said one of the Tapestri caseworkers in Atlanta.
Can't undo it, but can move on
"There's nothing one can do to undo the horrible things, but there is a lot we must do for individuals to get on with their lives," said Keller, who is also on the New York City mayor's Human Exploitation Working Group, whose goal is to promote appropriate services for survivors of trafficking through public/private partnerships.
"Healing doesn't mean erasing what happened, but it is gratifying to see individuals who were so brutalized be able to heal physically, socially and emotionally and gain meaningful trust in the system," he said.
In Atlanta, the two caseworkers recounted how they still talk regularly to the trafficking victims they helped heal years earlier.
"I have clients who call me two or three times a week," said one caseworker. "They will call to chat, ask for advice for themselves or their friends. They are still in a strange country."Keller said there are challenges for caseworkers who work with trafficking victims, because "we live in a brutal world where things like trafficking and torture are all too common. When you are working with these victims, you have to watch for secondary trauma."
But he said he was constantly amazed by the resilience of the human spirit.
"Frankly, that's why I find the work gratifying. … I know with appropriate support individuals can be helped."
Although former trafficking victims and caseworkers first met under terrible circumstances, many things do heal over time.
"Yes, we get the baby calls," said a caseworker, smiling.
Source: TODAY News - TODAY.com
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Massage parlor details emerge - The Times-Tribune
Published: June 3, 2011
Life at a chain of massage parlors raided last month was secretive and salacious for the Asian women who worked there, court documents reveal.
Details in a master affidavit released by the U.S. attorney's office disclosed weeks of surveillance and wiretaps that led to the arrest of principals in what prosecutors describe as a prostitution ring fronted as a chain of massage parlors run by Stroudsburg man Lih Kang Shen. The operation spanned from the Oriental Body Works in Moosic and Ichiban Spa in Plains Twp. to the Poconos and beyond.
Read the arrest warrant & affidavit HERE
Besides Mr. Shen, of 106 Fox Chase Road, the indictment charged John Vincent Ferraro, 45, of Bartonsville; Young Ja Youn, 45, aka "Micky," of Stroudsburg; Yu Cheng Lee, 35, aka "Ricky," of Tannersville, and Cin Hsia Chen, 56, aka "Judy," of Briarwood, N.Y. If convicted, each faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million.
The 98-page affidavit gives a glimpse into the hidden world of the massage parlors - revealing they were staffed mostly by illegal immigrants from Korea, Taiwan, China or elsewhere in Asia, after being lured to the United States with the promise of legitimate work. Instead, the affidavit states, they found themselves in a form of indentured servitude and were required to live at the massage parlors. And, the women were prohibited from emerging from the parlors for fear of being seen and drawing suspicion.
While their only income came from tips paid by customers for sex acts, court papers state, even that money was seized by Mr. Shen and his small cadre of employees to pay for room and board, transportation and even condoms.
The women's lives were compressed into backpacks that included a few personal items, but mostly tools of the trade - condoms, oil and lingerie.
They were shuttled from parlor to parlor to motel room and even traded with other brothel owners, chauffeured in a minivan by Mr. Shen's employee Mr. Ferraro, according to court papers.
"Bring that Thai girl from Wilkes-Barre to 611," Mr. Shen would tell Mr. Ferraro, a characteristic instruction about which women would be taken where, according to court papers.
Going back at least to 2008, Mr. Ferraro kept a network of seven massage parlors in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and New Jersey stocked with food for the sequestered workers and condoms, referred to in wiretapped conversations as "tools," court documents stated. Every week or so, Mr. Ferraro headed out with a minivan to rotate women among the parlors in order to give customers a new group of women, according to the affidavit.
Mr. Shen's live-in girlfriend, Ms. Youn, screened clients who responded to advertisements, mostly placed online by Mr. Shen's cousin, Mr. Lee, court documents said. Authorities also allege Ms. Chen allowed many assets to be placed in her name as a means of laundering money.
Any client who came in for a massage paid between $40 and $70 as a door charge. While a sex act would only be delivered for an agreed-upon "tip," Mr. Shen's operation got a piece of that, too, billing the employees for room, board and transportation. Mr. Shen and his team believed that arrangement allowed them to claim they had no idea illegal acts were being performed in the back, according to the affidavit.
The principals enjoyed a steady stream of cash, according to court records, with Mr. Ferraro estimating the operation grossed "well over $1 million a year." Mr. Shen purchased a 2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo, a 2011 BMW 550i and other vehicles.
The operation began to break down after a March 18 raid at the Oriental Body Works in Moosic when an undercover state police officer was offered a price list: $40 for a "manual release," $100 for intercourse. The raid that followed found condoms hidden in cosmetics containers and used condoms hidden in soft drink cans, court documents said.
As they felt the pressure of the investigation closing in on them, court documents described how Mr. Ferraro and Mr. Shen practiced their alibi - that they were running legitimate massage businesses and couldn't be held responsible for what their employees might have done.
Meanwhile, customer counts were down, and Mr. Shen and his inner circle began considering operating out of hotels "like in the old days," avoiding utility costs, according to court records. Operating out of four New Jersey motels and in Trotter's Inn in Moosic, court documents say, the operations were still advertised online as a massage service, but the pretense was otherwise dropped: Customers could now be serviced in 10 minutes, versus the massage and careful negotiations that often accompanied encounters in the massage parlors.
All five suspects were indicted on charges they conspired to control the women, induce them to travel in "interstate and foreign commerce" for prostitution, then laundered the proceeds from the activity.
U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith said last month 12 illegal immigrants allegedly involved in the prostitution ring are being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pending further investigation. U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Heidi Havens said Thursday the office would not comment about the whereabouts or well-being of the women who staffed the massage parlors.
Brett J. Riegel, representing Ms. Chen, said he didn't review the just-unsealed affidavit. Attempts to reach Mr. Shen's attorney, T. Axel Jones, were unsuccessful.
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com
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