The President’s Interagency Task Force to Combat Trafficking in Persons Declaration of Achievements: 2001-2008

July 11, 2008
The President
The White House

Dear Mr. President:

Pursuant to Section 105 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (P.L. 106-386), by Executive Order 13257, you established the President’s Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, chaired by the Secretary of State, in February 2002.

This Declaration of Achievements summarizes the work of federal agencies under your leadership to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking. It has been an honor to work with you in pursuing these goals.

David S. C. Chu Department of Defense	Condoleezza Rice Department of State, Chair
Elaine L. Chao Department of Labor	Michael B. Mukasey Department of Justice
Deborah A. Price Department of Education	Tevi Troy Department of Health and Human Services
Joseph W. Bowab Office of Management and Budget	Michael Chertoff Department of Homeland Security
James F. Jeffrey National Security Council	David R. Shedd Office of the Director of National Intelligence
James R. Kunder U.S. Agency for International Development	Karl Zinsmeister Domestic Policy Council
Mark R. Dybul Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator

The President’s Interagency Task Force to Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP)
Senior Policy Operating Group

Prosecution: Identifying and Punishing Human Traffickers

• From Fiscal Years (FY) 2001 to 2007, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices prosecuted 156 TIP cases securing 342 convictions and guilty pleas. This represents a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the previous seven years, due in part to the creation of the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. These prosecutions have led to sentences as long as life in prison and to millions of dollars in restitution to victims.
• Since creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated more than 1200 TIP cases. ICE investigative efforts have led to over 300 convictions for human trafficking and related offenses. Since the enactment of the Protect Act in 2003, the ICE Cyber Crimes Center’s investigations of U.S. citizens who sexually exploit children overseas has resulted in 64 convictions.
• DOJ has worked closely with state and local partners through 42 Human Trafficking Task Forces nationwide, created and funded by DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. The task forces bring together federal, state, and local law enforcement investigators and prosecutors, along with social services agencies, to find and rescue victims and punish their traffickers.
• The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) participated in 32 of the 42 Human Trafficking Task Forces to assist in identifying traffickers and ensuring restitution for TIP victims. DOL WHD also incorporated trafficking-related material into its basic investigator training and drafted a standardized internal human trafficking resource manual.
• Started in 2003, the Innocence Lost Initiative, a joint federal and state effort implemented through 23 task forces in selected cities, focuses on the investigation of prostituted children. Through this initiative, sponsored by DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, over 400 children have been rescued and 308 convictions obtained in state and federal court.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) established the Office of Alien Smuggling Interdiction (ASI) in 2006 to extend the nation’s security zone beyond the physical borders and to deter, detect, and disrupt illegal migration to the United States and increase prosecutions of alien smugglers and human traffickers.
• DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) funded a project creating an online TIP reporting system used by Human Trafficking Task Force members to record data on traffickers and their victims. BJS and the National Institute of Justice have funded and conducted research on the scope and nature of trafficking in the U.S. and globally, as well as research into the best practices of law enforcement and social services. The Department of State’s (DOS) Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) tracks thousands of convictions globally through its annual TIP Report, expanding from 2,800 convictions in 2003 to 3,400 in 2007. Over 150 acts of new or amended anti-TIP legislation were adopted by foreign governments since 2003. These increases are due, in large part, to U.S. government diplomatic engagement and funded-programs.
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has strengthened the capacity of civil society groups internationally to change and enforce anti-trafficking laws and trained judiciary officials to implement those laws in countries including Albania, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Zambia.
• The interagency Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center (HSTC), created in 2004 as a fusion center and information clearing house, has produced strategic assessments, intelligence reports, and training materials related to TIP, human smuggling, and criminal facilitation of clandestine terrorist travel. It has provided investigative leads to U.S. law enforcement agencies and worked with foreign law enforcement partners to combat TIP.

Protection: Protecting and Assisting Human Trafficking Victims

• Through FY 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certified 1248 adult trafficking victims and provided Letters of Eligibility to 131 minor trafficking victims. In FY 2007 alone, HHS grantees conducting community outreach made contact with approximately 1500 victims or suspected victims; 127 started the certification process; 23 received certification; and 120 assisted open law enforcement investigations.
• HHS established a national hotline (1-888-3737-888) in 2003, currently operated by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. In 2006, HHS launched the national Per-Capita Services contract to provide “anytime anywhere” services to rescued TIP victims. The contract has broadened the national network of service providers to 120 sites.
• DHS published regulations for continued presence as well as T and U nonimmigrant status, providing immigration relief to TIP victims and victims of violent crime. Through FY 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services awarded 1,974 T visas to TIP victims and their family members. DHS also developed a model for law enforcement ensuring on-site victim assistance in the immediate aftermath of rescues involving large numbers of TIP victims.
• HHS expanded its capacity to identify and serve TIP victims through the launch of its In-Reach Campaign, leading to the establishment of the U.S. Domestic Notification Pilot Program. The Pilot Program notifies suspected U.S. Citizen and Lawful Permanent Resident trafficking victims of the benefits and services for which they may be eligible.
• The DOS Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) has assisted 160 family members from 31 countries to join certified TIP victims in the U.S. through its program established in 2005 to support family reunification. Of the 160 persons, the program reunited 149 eligible family members with TIP survivors in the U.S., and provided 11 rescued victims with travel and reintegration assistance who elected to return to their countries of origin. The HHS Rescue and Restore Regional Grants and Intermediary Contracts bolstered innovative grassroots anti-trafficking efforts by sub-awarding nearly two million dollars in FY 2008 alone to small ethnic, community, and faith-based organizations that are on the frontlines of victim outreach and identification.
• USAID is implementing pilot residential rehabilitation programs in Cambodia and Ecuador based on its study of best practices, as required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005.
• Of $480 million to fund programs that combat exploitive child labor around the world, DOL has set aside more than 47 percent, or $227 million, to combat TIP for the purposes of labor and commercial sexual exploitation. DOL programs have rescued more than one million children from exploitive child labor globally, many of whom were TIP victims.
• U.S. government funding for international anti-TIP projects increased from $51 million in FY 2001 to $79 million in FY 2007, benefiting over 90 countries and totaling over $528 million since FY 2001. DOS G/TIP currently manages over $40 million in open grant funds. USAID provided $123 million for anti-TIP projects between FY 2001 and FY 2007.
• DOS PRM funded the development and dissemination of a Handbook on Performance Indicators for Counter-Trafficking Projects. The handbook reflects collaborative efforts with federal agencies and the priority placed by the Department on developing tools to measure the impact of anti-trafficking programs.

Prevention: Raising Awareness

• The U.S. Government brought global attention to the importance of addressing the demand for trafficked victims. DOS G/TIP’s extensive bilateral and multilateral engagement, public outreach, and programming, boosted focus on demand within the United Nations, by governments, the private sector, civil society, and the media.
• The Department of Defense has implemented its zero tolerance policy opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. Since late 2005, patronizing prostitution is a specific, chargeable offense for service members under Article 134 of the U.S. military's statutory criminal law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. DoD is also working to prevent labor trafficking in U.S. military contracts. Anti-TIP training is now mandatory for all DoD assigned personnel.
• The HHS Rescue and Restore (R&R) Campaign launched in 2004 raises TIP awareness through media, coalition-building, and training. The R&R Campaign generated 274.2 million anti-trafficking media impressions in print, broadcast, and radio; reached 1.3 million people via the R&R billboard campaign; and galvanized hundreds of grassroots activists by establishing 21 R&R coalitions. Coalitions have trained thousands of front-line workers – forensic nurses, social workers, law enforcement, faith-based and community organizations.
• DOS G/TIP has built global awareness of modern-day slavery through eight annual TIP Reports, covering 170 countries in 2008 (compared to 82 in 2001) and focusing increasingly on forced labor, in addition to sex trafficking. DOS G/TIP has widely disseminated anti-TIP information through electronic and print media, the Internet, and digital video conferences – reaching 1.26 billion people in 2007, an increase of over 300 percent in the last two years.
• USAID supported public awareness campaigns including radio, drama, and youth camps to combat TIP. USAID partnered with MTV Europe Foundation and MTV Networks Asia Pacific to launch an anti-trafficking Asia campaign using TV programming, online content, and live events. Collaboration with top rock band Radiohead is taking the anti-trafficking Asia campaign global reaching as many as 560 million households worldwide.
• The Department of Education created a Fact Sheet providing the education community an overview of the trafficking of children and its effect on U.S. schools. It describes how to identify, report, and help victims, and lists resources and publications that schools can use to raise awareness. Through listservs and conferences, it has reached over 150,000 contacts.
• DHS ICE conducted TIP awareness campaigns through public service announcements, billboards, and capacity building training for over 24,000 law enforcement officers and nongovernmental organization personnel worldwide.
• DHS CBP spearheaded a public TIP awareness campaign to educate the traveling public, potential victims, and CBP employees. CBP has published Human Trafficking Information Cards in English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese to discreetly warn potential victims of the potential risks they may face and assistance available to them.
• DOJ organized three National Conferences on Human Trafficking, attended by Human Trafficking and Innocence Lost Task Force members, and federal officials collaborating to combat trafficking. The task forces have trained tens of thousands of law enforcement officers and community members to identify this crime. Since 2001, 33 states have adopted legislation criminalizing human trafficking based on a DOJ-drafted model TIP law.
• The Secretary of Labor hosted in May 2003 “Children in the Crossfire,” a conference to raise awareness about the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, an unconditional worst form of child labor, and in November 2004 hosted the “Conference on TIP in North America” showcasing initiatives in the region. In 2003, DOL published “Faces of Change” to highlight DOL efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor internationally.
• DOS G/TIP built partnerships with the private sector, leveraging expertise and resources to combat TIP and child sex tourism – Carlson Companies became the first North American tourism company to sign a global Code of Conduct and develop training for hospitality personnel; and LexisNexis gave support to major public outreach efforts, technical capacity building, and in-kind assistance to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.