OVERVIEW
The Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force (TPWETF) seeks
to prevent trafficking in persons and worker exploitation throughout the United
States and to investigate and prosecute cases when such violations occur.
The criminal involuntary servitude statutes are critical tools in this effort,
which recognizes that trafficking in persons is a form of modern-day slavery.
The Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division has primary enforcement
responsibility for the involuntary servitude and peonage
statutes and plays an active role as a leading member of the TPWETF.
The TPWETF is chaired by the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
and the Solicitor of Labor. Other Department of Justice participants in this
national effort include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys,
the Criminal Division, the Office of Victims of Crime and the Violence Against
Women Office. The TPWETF also works in coordination with the Department of
Labor, Department of State, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
various United States Attorneys' offices across the country.
ROLE OF THE CRIMINAL SECTION
- Investigation and Prosecution
- The Criminal Section works closely with the FBI, the
INS, and the 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices to ensure that
allegations of trafficking and slavery are investigated
and prosecuted. Section Attorneys conduct grand jury investigations
and prosecute cases. Since the creation of the TPWETF,
the number of open slavery investigations in the Section
has tripled.
- The Criminal Section works with Victim/Witness Coordinators
from FBI, INS, U.S. Attorneys Offices, and the Executive
Office for United States Attorneys to assist victims of
trafficking in receiving health care, housing, and other
protections as befits their status as victims of crime.
- The Criminal Section draws on its experiences in investigating
and prosecuting trafficking cases to assist the Administration
in formulating policy to combat trafficking in persons
and worker exploitation in a systematic and proactive
fashion.
- The Criminal Section has created an outreach program
to:
- educate victims of trafficking about their rights;
- create dialogue and build trust with community and non-governmental
organizations to support our efforts to detect, investigate, and prosecute
trafficking cases, and to assist victims;
- provide education and training assistance to law enforcement officers,
prosecutors, and victim/witness staff.
Since enactment of the Victims
of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, (VTVPA) which became
effective on October 28, 2000, the TPWETF has sought to provide information
to advocacy organizations and service providers to invite their participation
in the effort to combat trafficking in persons and worker exploitation in
light of the new tools available under the new legislation. The VTVPA amended
the slavery statutes to make prosecutions more effective and to increase the
statutory maximum sentences that traffickers will face. The VTVPA also created
new protections for victims of trafficking. A
letter (html and pdf),
fact sheet (html and pdf),
and poster (html and pdf)
were developed as part of this effort.
CASES
Trafficking in persons-- often involving the recruitment and smuggling of
foreign nationals into the United States to force them to submit to abominable
conditions -- amounts to modern-day slavery. People are forced to work in
factories, fields, restaurants, and homes. Many women and children are forced
into prostitution or other illicit sexual activity.
In one case, Mexican farm workers were smuggled into the United States and
then held and forced to work for their captors to pay off their smuggling
fees. Fees were usually $5,000 or more and the victims were held by threats
of violence. According to the victims, they were smuggled into the United
States in a van and during the three-day trip, were not allowed to leave the
van for bathroom breaks or for food. The youngest victim was 13 years of age.
In another instance, Russian women were recruited and imported into the United
States as folk dancers. Instead, they were forced to work as exotic dancers.
The women were not free to leave their employment, were threatened with violence
if they attempted to escape, and had their travel documents and return airline
tickets confiscated by their employer. The women were forced to turn over
their earnings to their captors.
HOW TO REPORT INCIDENTS OF EXPLOITATION
To report suspected instances of trafficking or worker exploitation, please
contact the FBI field office nearest you or contact the Trafficking in Persons
and Worker Exploitation Task Force Complaint Line at 1-888-428-7581
(weekdays 9 AM - 5 PM EST). The TPWETF Complaint Line call is toll-free and
offers foreign language translation services in most languages as well as
TTY. After business hours, the Complaint Line has a message service in English,
Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin only.
FACT SHEET: Distinctions
Between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking,
JANUARY 2005 (Published by The Human Smuggling and Trafficking
Center)
RESOURCES FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING AND SERVICE PROVIDERS
The Department of Justice has collaborated with the Departments of State,
Health and Human Services and Labor to develop two brochures on trafficking
in persons. One brochure is for law enforcement to provide to trafficking
victims whom they encounter (html
and pdf). This brochure provides basic
information about the rights of victims of trafficking in the United States
and describes assistance and protections that may be available. The other
brochure is more detailed and is intended for non-governmental organizations,
such as service providers and other community-based organizations, to use
as a reference guide to help trafficking victims (html
and pdf).
See also, Report on Activities to Combat Human Trafficking, Fiscal Years 2001-2005 (50MB) -- Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Appendices
NEW HUMAN TRAFFICKING INITIATIVE: MODEL
LAW FOR STATES (Word
Perfect version)
AAG ACOSTA ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, JULY 15, 2004
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Updated July 25, 2008
