Since the launch of the Blue Campaign in July 2010, we have inventoried and aligned the anti-human trafficking efforts of each of our components to better address this terrible crime. The Blue Campaign is led by a Steering Committee comprised of committed representatives from across the Department -- including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), the Office of Health Affairs (OHA), the Office of Policy and the Management Directorate. This diversity of components and perspectives has fostered creativity, collaboration, and concrete solutions that are helping DHS better combat human trafficking on a daily basis.

These are just a few of the Blue Campaign’s recent accomplishments:
• The creation and dissemination of a free, interactive internet training curriculum for law enforcement on identifying and addressing human trafficking;
• The designation of 39 ICE human trafficking field experts;
• The creation and distribution of multi-lingual resources for vulnerable populations.
• The development of online resources, including a centralized website – www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking – and a human trafficking group on the civic engagement website - http://www.ourborder.ning.com/;

The Blue Campaign has several initiatives planned for the spring including the filming of an online training for DHS personnel and the engagement of the firefighter and EMS communities in the effort to combat human trafficking. In addition to the special initiatives of the Blue Campaign, each of the DHS components is integral in the fight against human trafficking through its daily work.

To learn more about the Blue Campaign, to download educational and outreach materials, or to sign up for the DHS Open Source Enterprise’s Daily Human Trafficking and Smuggling Report, please visit us at www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking. We strive to continue to improve our efforts at combating human trafficking and welcome your feedback on how to do so. As always, report any suspected human trafficking by calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement at 866-347-2423.

In August, Secretary Napolitano announced the launch of a new DHS social networking site, Our Border. The site was created to encourage and facilitate discussion about the southwest border. Our Border enables community leaders, activists and concerned citizens to discuss issues relevant to the border with each other and with the department.

This week, we opened a new forum focused on commerce and the southwest border, and specifically narrowed to four topics:

· Tourism
· Bi-National Business
· Commercial Traffic / FAST
· Passenger Traffic / SENTRI

We encourage you to visit the site and join the discussion.

There’s also a section where members are encouraged to introduce themselves to the network. We wanted to share the introduction of “Ramona,” one of our members:

“I'm not a DHS employee or a community leader. I'm not even sure I can be called an activist. I firmly believe that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world and it became that way by embracing immigrants from every other countries in the world. We need to find a way to secure our borders, prevent drug, weapon and human smuggling and still allow Mexico and the United States to grow stronger as supportive neighbors.”

Ramona is one of over 300 members on Our Border, and, like others, she has already joined many of the groups and has participated in a number of the discussion forums. We encourage you to visit the site and get involved in the discussion. We want to hear from you.

Join today