Illegal immigration is a major problem to the economy and security of the United States. Human trafficking is a social crime that denies the economy loads of tax money due to the fraudulent dealings. The social impact includes an increase in crime-related activities that has many negative security effects on the citizens of the United States. Use of trafficking victims in the commercial sex industry and the distribution of illegal drugs and substances also negatively affect all levels of the American societies. The adverse effects are many and, therefore, there is a need for the government to take action by putting in place prevention measures for human trafficking.
There are reports of human trafficking all over the world now and then, and men, women, and children are the victims (Bryfonski). It is a crime that is hidden from the law, and the victims are afraid to come forward because some of them do not have the ability to express themselves and because the traffickers threaten their lives (Haerens, 2012). The traffickers use force to obtain their victims from areas experiencing political instability and emotionally vulnerable people. Many governments across the world are doing everything in their ability to fight human trafficking due to its disregard for human rights (Haerens, 2012). The United States of America has even put laws against human trafficking and has a unit to deal with such cases.
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The United States is a lucrative market attracting many individuals having prospects of a better life. People are trafficked from many parts of the world to the United States especially Mexico, Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. To address the issue of human trafficking and human smuggling, the federal government has put in place various agencies to investigate the reported cases relating to such illegal acts. A good example is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. It is an agency of the Homeland Security that deals with cases involving immigration, human trafficking and human smuggling in the country. Other than investigating and documenting incidences of human trafficking in the country, the agency encourages all citizens to report any incidence of human trafficking to the relevant law enforcement authorities for appropriate action to be taken.
Human trafficking vs. human smuggling
The first major difference between human trafficking and human smuggling relates to the willingness of the parties involved. As earlier mentioned, victims of human trafficking are usually coerced to act against their will under duress and even physical assault. Victims of human smuggling, on the other hand, usually willingly agree to move from their home country another nation because they are promised better jobs and better livelihoods (Anderson 2010). The smugglers, in this case, only enhance transportation and entry to the destination country through illegal means after the victims have paid a substantial monetary compensation for transport. After achieving the objective, the smugglers close the deal with their targets and separate. In the case of trafficking, the perpetrators have a perennial interest in their victims and, therefore, exercise perennial control over them for commercial, labor, sex and criminal gain.
Human trafficking involves a high level of exploitation of the victims whose rights and freedoms are curtailed in an attempt to exercise control over them and avoid publicity. It is the modern method of slavery where the travel documents of an individual seeking employment are taken away from them, and their movements from one location to another or from one country to another are limited. The opportunities for these people to communicate with the outside world are highly monitored to ensure that they do not disclose any information to their family members or law enforcement officers. Unlike human trafficking, the basic rights and fundamental freedoms of smuggling victims are not curtailed, and their movements are not closely monitored as those of the human trafficking victims (Anderson, 2010). In some cases, however, human smuggling can easily change to human trafficking whereby the smuggled people may end up facing exploitation from the perpetrators.
Human smuggling is purely an international crime because it happens across borders, thus violating migration laws of the country of destination. As opposed to human smuggling, trafficking can occur either outside or within the borders of a country. In this case, victims are blackmailed against speaking out due to the domineering power held by the traffickers. Commercial sex industries are mostly operated under this form of domination where pimps coerce the trafficking victims that they also face prostitution charges should the circus be exposed.
How to eradicate Human Trafficking in the U.S
The eradication of human trafficking on the American soil and globally requires the active participation of all stakeholders in the society. The main players, however, are the victims, lawmakers and enforcers, community leadership and the community as a whole and more so, to the parents of the victims.
Law enforcers
There should be an anti-trafficking unit and legislation in the United States which should comprise of very highly trained and qualified law enforcement personnel, judicial officials, detectives, investigators, border guards, prosecutors and even anti-trafficking police (Haerens, 2012). These officials are required to be friendly so that victims of human trafficking are free to report their misfortunes without being harassed by the police (Bryfonski). This way the victims will not fear to go to the police to report the traffickers to get help and finally through the information provided by the victims the police can easily trace and catch the traffickers and therefore prosecuting them according to the law. The victims should be assured of safety and this way the fear of the traffickers will not be as much. The law enforcement team should provide security to the victims until the bad guys are caught and put in jail, and they should not be prosecuted for being in the States illegally since it was by force (Haerens, 2012). There should be helpline numbers that are publicly known and interpreters in the law enforcement team who can speak different languages, therefore, making it easy for the victims to communicate and understand while providing effective information and also reporting the trafficking.
Victims
Victims should be empowered to encourage their confidence in speaking out against the issues in their lives. Law enforcement agencies should make it easier for the victims to find help in an attempt to curtail the vice. It should be understood that victims, like in the case of those used for commercial sex, are threatened against seeking legal intervention due to the charges that may face them if they did.
Victims should also have the courage to go to the law enforcement team and the lawmaker for help (Haerens, 2012). They are supposed to find the nearest police stations after they are free from the hands of their traffickers this way they can be given any medical care and also disclose the where-about of their traffickers. Victims are the only connection that the law enforcement team can get their first-hand information (Bryfonski). They should fight their fear of being tracked by the traffickers and also fight the fear of the police in the United States, therefore, being able to expose the hideouts of these law breakers.
Incentive programs like Providence of visas to victims and the withdrawal of all charges against them would improve their confidence and esteem to enhance exposure of these cartels. Victims have a lot if valuable information that can help bring the offenders to justice.
Law Makers
These are people that are supposed to make the laws against human trafficking and laws that protect the victims (Haerens, 2012). They lawmakers should make resources available in cases of human smuggling. The U.S government agencies should make resources available for the effective collection of information about this trade. Methods of contacting the Worker Exploitation Task Force or the Department of Trafficking should be made more available, flexible and effective (Bryfonski). The lawmakers must make all the laws clear to the public and internationally so that when traffickers are caught, they are charged according to the laws laid out.
Parents
Parents play a crucial role in this issue in making sure that their children have the knowledge on human traffickers. They should make sure that their children do not take anything for example gifts and food from strangers because the strangers tend to take advantage of these vulnerable humans (Bryfonski). They should also make sure that they contact the police immediately they suspect any strangers and also in case their kids go missing. This means that parent should be informed and therefore giving them an insight of how the traffickers obtain their victims, therefore, able to educate their children on the issue (Haerens, 2012).
Community and community leaders
The community should be fully aware and educated on this issue of human smuggling so that they can report any suspicious activities in the neighborhood (Haerens, 2012). This means that if the traffickers are carrying out their illegal activities in a warehouse around, the people of that community should feel the need to report the matter to the law enforcement team. The community leaders should carry on their role in the community by carrying out some random surveys around to make sure that there are no suspicious activities in the society. In the case of any call for alarm, the community members especially the community leaders should report the matter to the police (Bryfonski). The police should, therefore, make sure that they investigate the matter and be able to catch the traffickers and prosecute them according to the law as it has been laid by the lawmakers. The community leaders should have community awareness to the community by holding the community meeting. These meetings should focus on educating and creating awareness to the community on human trafficking. Also, they should make sure that the people have the helpline numbers that they would use to report any human trafficking incidence and any event of a related crime. They should let the community know that these traffickers pose as friends and promise so many things to their victims, therefore, it is necessary to turn down offers from strangers so as not to fall victims to their lies (Bryfonski).
Conclusion
Human trafficking is an illegal act that goes against human rights in the world. The U.S government is, therefore, putting the issue on the front line and therefore dedicating itself into having severe fines and penalties for the convicted human traffickers. There has also been a discussion on protecting and supporting service for all the victims of trafficking. The victims are used in transporting drugs; they are also used in hard labor, and worst case scenario is where they are used for sexual activities. The government is, therefore, has an obligation to making sure that these cases of human trafficking are dealt with and making sure that victims are taken back to their legal and home countries safe and free from being threatened by their attackers (Haerens, 2012). The United States of America should join with other governments in making sure that traffickers are prosecuted and put in jail. The United States has the biggest task in making sure that human trafficking is eradicated, traffickers are punished, and that the victims' needs are addressed accordingly.
Recently, there have been developments in the battle against illegal immigration into the United States. The department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the Homeland Security, is mandated with the obligation of protecting America through effective immigration registration procedures that ensure issues of trafficking and human smuggling are prevented and offenders punished. Tremendous success has been reported but still there is the need to deal with homegrown cases.
References
Anderson, S. (2010). Immigration. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.
Bryfonski, D. (n.d.). Human trafficking .
Haerens, M. (2012). Human trafficking . Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
