Human Trafficking In the U. S
Research Question: How Aware Are You That
Human Trafficking Is On The Rise In The U. S?
Introduction
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the United
States of America dominated global news due to
many cases of slavery. Many activists condemned
slavery in the U.S, thereby leading to the
abolishment of the slave trade. However, in the
modern world, slavery in the U.S was substituted by
human trafficking. In other words, human
trafficking is the current form of slavery that
involves illegal trading and smuggling of people for
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Typically,
human trafficking refers to the process of recruiting,
transporting, transferring, harboring, and receiving
people for sexual and labor exploitation via the use
of coercion, fraud, or force (Cockbain et al., 2018).
I am entirely aware that human trafficking is on the
rise in the United States. Therefore, the primary
objective of the paper is to explore factors that
increase cases of human trafficking in the U.S.
Mainly, human trafficking in the U.S takes place
around international travel-hubs due to the large
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
immigrant population. Human trafficking is on the
rise in the U.S because states involved in human
trafficking have increased drastically. However, the
leading hubs of human trafficking are states such as
Georgia, Texas, and California.
Factors Indicating That Human Trafficking Is
On the Rise in the U.S
Geographical Distribution of Forced Laborers
Providing real labor in the United States is
expensive, and many American citizens find it
difficult to sustain workers. Therefore, the use of
dubious means to get workers who charge low
wages. In that regard, human trafficking remains the
best option for these workers to access the U.S
illegally. The report released by the Department of
State in 2011, the majority of victims of human
trafficking originate from the Dominican Republic,
El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Philippines, Mexico,
India, and Thailand. However, some of the U.S
citizens are also victims of human trafficking.
Human Trafficking Victims Emergency Department
report of 2017 asserts that "vulnerabilities are
increasingly found in visa programs for legally
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
documented students and temporary workers who
typically fill labor needs in the hospitality,
landscaping, construction, food service, and
agricultural industries" (Hachey & Phillippi, 2017).
Therefore, the rise of human trafficking in the U.S
is consistent due to a large number of immigrants in
travel-hubs and a massive need for cheap labor.
States such as Florida, Texas, New York,
California, and Oklahoma remain the leading
destination of victims of human trafficking.
Sex Trafficking
Another aspect that explains why human
trafficking is on the rise in the U.S is sex trafficking
for sexual exploitation. In the 1979, more than
35,000 children were exposed to human trafficking
for sexual exploitation and others were used of drug
trafficking. Besides, human trafficking for sexual
exploitation is on the rise in the U.S due to the
increase in the number of children who are
considered runaways. These children are at a higher
risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation in the
sex industry. According to the United States
Department of State, more than 20,000 children and
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
women are smuggling into the U.S. per year
through the United States-Mexico border. This
figure propelled the United States Department of
State to say, "I wouldn't put any stock in these
figures as indicators of what is going on today"
(United States Department of State, 2016). This
quote indicates that human trafficking is on the rise
in the United States, where children and women are
trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation.
In 2013, at least 3,300 minors were arrested
for prostitution in the United States. Surprisingly,
14% of them were 14 years and below (Hachey &
Phillippi, 2017). The International Labor Union
researched in the major states in the United States to
determine the level of human trafficking. The study
indicated that boys are exposed to higher risks of
human trafficking because they can be used in the
drug trade, petty crimes, and agricultural forced
labor. The study also indicated that girls were
exposed to the risk of human trafficking because
they are forced into the domestic work and sex
industry. By 2014, more than 5,600 children were
working in environments violating child labor laws
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
(Hachey & Phillippi, 2017). Despite the rise of
human trafficking in the United States, it has
remained secretive, which makes it difficult to
determine the accurate picture of its widespread.
Labor Trafficking
Labor trafficking is another form in the U. S.
that explains the rise of human trafficking. Each
year, more than 10,000 people in the U.S. are
subjected to forced labor. However, the National
Human Rights Center in Berkeley, California,
claims that the number could be higher due to the
secretive nature of human trafficking and difficulty
in estimating the exact population of victims
(Hachey & Phillippi, 2017). Human trafficking in
the U.S. is on the rise because the U.S. government
only maintains records of victims of severe cases of
human trafficking. The U.S government assists
these victims through immigration benefits.
However, many victims of human
trafficking are not considered in the government
program of immigration benefits, thereby creating a
loophole for human traffickers to carry on with their
illegal activities. Besides, human trafficking is on
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
the rise in the U.S. because the research conducted
by the Urban Institute indicates that labor
trafficking cases are not prioritized by law
enforcement agencies (United States Department of
State, 2011). Labor trafficking increases human
trafficking in the United States due to high demand
for labor in housekeeping, manufacturing, forestry,
elder care, carnivals, construction, hospitality,
landscaping, retail, begging, health and beauty
services, food services, agricultural work, traveling
sales crews, and domestic work.
Poverty
Poverty is a structural factor that explains
why human trafficking is on the rise in the U.S.
Poverty has increased human trafficking in many
ways. First, poverty has affected the choice of the
individual in developing countries, thereby driving
families to make infeasible decisions out of lack of
education and desperation. In that regard, many
people from countries such as Mexico, India,
Thailand, and Vietnam collaborate with human
traffickers because they are convinced that the U.S.
will create better opportunities for them (Hachey &
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
Phillippi, 2017). Besides, poverty in these countries
has influenced parents to send their children to the
United States through human trafficking because
they cannot afford the cost charged in legal
immigration procedures. Unfortunately, such
parents are not informed that their children end up
working in unfavorable environments through
forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Moreover, victims of human trafficking who
have experience poverty tend to accept their
situation. For example, many domestic workers in
the state of Georgia, the United States, are illegal
immigrants who have managed to access the United
States through human trafficking. These immigrants
collaborate with their employers to avoid legal
implications (Cockbain et al., 2018). For that
reason, human trafficking is on the rise in the U.S
due to many sympathizers of human trafficking.
Lastly, victims of human trafficking in the United
States try to hide their identity because they feel
cheap labor is the only they gain wages and remit
something to their families.
Globalization
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
Globalization is another structural factor that
explains why human trafficking is on the rise in the
United States. In other words, there is a perfect
positive correlation between human trafficking and
globalization. For example, globalization has
increased trade in the Mexico-United States border,
which has attracted cheap labor from Mexicans.
Nonetheless, migration policies that the United
States is using have not transformed the level of
demand for cheap labor. Thus, there is a loophole in
the migration policies which force illegal
immigration through human trafficking. Human
trafficking circles in the United States are created
by illegal immigration. Pope Francis says, "The
trade in human beings, a modern form of slavery,
violates the God-given dignity of so many of our
brothers and sisters and constitutes a true crime
against humanity" (Wooden, 2018). His quote
indicates that the trade of foreign goods through
import competition has increased, thereby
increasing the demand for forced labor through
human trafficking. Overall, the United States has
recorded technological advances that align with
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
globalization. In that regard, technology has
facilitated the formation of organized crime circles
that propels human trafficking operations in the
United States.
Fear of Government Corruption
The U.S government protects the victims of
human trafficking. However, human trafficking is a
world of fear, and very few victims seek help from
the U.S. government due to fear of reprisal with
their family, fear of deportation, and fear of
corruption (Kristof, 2011). Therefore, human
traffickers in the United States utilize this weakness
to increase their trafficking operations. Some
victims of human trafficking originate from corrupt
governments that aid human trafficking.
Human Trafficking Is Almost Everywhere In the
United States
Human trafficking is like a virus that is
impossible to see. Many states in the U.S have
accepted human trafficking secretly even though the
U.S. laws have prohibited human trafficking.
Certain cartels of human trafficking in the United
States are generating billions of dollars from
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
prostitution, cheap, and forced labor. They use their
wealth to protect themselves from harsh legal
policies that prohibit human trafficking (Cockbain
et al., 2018). Mainly, human trafficking is like a
cloud, which is a form of corruption. Therefore, due
to many loopholes in the U.S policies against
human trafficking, the rise of human trafficking will
continue rising until amendments are made to
criminalize it fully.
Conclusion
The U. S federal government and state
government have set laws against human
trafficking. Currently, over half of the states in the
United States have criminalized human trafficking
to at least reduce cases of sexual exploitation,
forced labor, and illegal immigration. However, as
demand for labor continues to increase in the U.S.,
human trafficking will be on the rise, trying to
supply cheap labor. Throughout the paper, factors
such as labor trafficking, sex trafficking,
globalization, and fear of governments, among
others, explain why human trafficking is on the rise
in the United States. Overall, human trafficking is
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
like a volcanic eruption whose long-term impacts
will be witnessed by future generations. Thus, states
in the U.S. need to join the federal government to
impose heavy penalties on human traffickers as a
will to minimize it. Otherwise, human trafficking
will be inevitable in the U.S. if the federal and state
governments fail to unite towards abolishing human
trafficking.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
References
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