Human Smuggling and Trafficking

Human trafficking has recently become an epidemic, making it a worldwide concern. According to research, nearly every nation in the world has experienced the difficulties and issues associated with human trafficking in one way or another. (Department of State, 2006). International human trafficking for the purpose of sexual and labor exploitation is a business endeavor that is led and motivated by financial gain. The law regulating commercial sex influences the likelihood of human trafficking, and as a result, it influences the amount of human trafficking that enters a certain nation. (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). According to the recent records of the Government of the U.S about six hundred to eight hundred thousands of persons are trafficked worldwide every year, and close to eighteen thousand are trafficked into the U.S. The report further indicates that women and children are the most affected lots and forms the largest groups of the victims (Department of State, 2006). Even though there is a big dissimilarity between human being smuggling and trafficking, the conditions or the motives that lead to the rise of these activities are similar. Further investigation shows that in countries where commercial sex is illegalized, the human trafficking for commercial exploitation is less prevalence as opposed to other countries that legalized commercial sex. For instance, in Norway and Sweden that has criminalized commercial sex has set up harsh prostitution laws leading to a reduction in human trafficking (Jac-Kucharski, 2012).

Keywords: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, human smuggling, commercial sex, and sex slavery

Introduction

Almost all around the world, the countries experiences problems and challenges regarding the human trafficking. Currently, human smuggling and trafficking are the fast growing criminal activity as per the United States intelligent. The activity involves numerous varied crimes that span several countries with increasing number of victims. It takes many forms and majorly exploitation of individuals through threats, force, deception, and coercion as well as a violation of fundamental human rights like deprivation of liberty, debt bondage, forced labor and right to move freely. Human trafficking victims are usually abused mentally, emotionally, and physically.

The basis of this paper is to discuss the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling giving distinctive characteristics. It also gives accounts of the relationship between human trafficking and human smuggling for sexual exploitation and prostitution as well as how legalizing commercial sex in a country affect the fight against human trafficking negatively. Additionally and most importantly, it discusses the measures established by the Homeland Security Department in the U.S to end or mitigate human trafficking and smuggling.

General Overview on Human Smuggling and Trafficking

As mentioned earlier, it is determined from the researchers carried out that majority of the countries around the world in one way or the other experience human smuggling and trafficking at one point or the other. This criminal activity has become a bigger challenge to deal with worldwide either as a country of origin, transit or as a destination country for individuals that fall victims of human trafficking and smuggling (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this inhuman activity has become rampant in the recent past, and the research indicates that over eight hundred thousand individuals are smuggled and trafficked every year across international boundaries (Department of State, 2006). Surprisingly, the same research shows that a good number of individuals are smuggled and trafficked within borders of their countries primarily. However, the final destinations of these people become the European countries with the United States taking the lead in receiving the largest number.

According to the United State Department of State (2006), a number of reasons champion people to get involved in criminal activities such as person smuggling and trafficking. The reasons are the huge amount of money these illegal activities fetch for the cartel’s enterprises involved, the need for cheap labor, and sexual exploitations among others (Tena, 2010). Jac-Kucharski research report (2012) reveals that majority of the smuggling and trafficking victims are lured with false assurances to leave their homes or countries, only to be subjected to involuntary labor, domestic bondage, or forced to become commercial sex workers (Jac- Kucharski, 2012). To understand the magnitude of the offenses of smuggling and trafficking human beings, it important to first get the clear differences of these two criminal offenses which mostly confused by the public.

Comparisons between Smuggling and Trafficking of Human Beings

Trafficking and smuggling of human beings are two distinctive criminal activities carried out in many countries worldwide including in the United States and there is no point in which the two will exchange (Department of State, 2006). Human smuggling is referred to as the act of facilitating, transporting or attempting to transport or illegally entering of the individual(s) either through an international boundary, while violating the bylaws of a particular country or many countries at the same time, surreptitiously or through fraud while using fake documents (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). It is important to note that material or financial gain are not always the reasons for conducting these criminal offenses. For instance, research shows that people may get involved in smuggling to reunite a family and therefore, human being smuggling is carried out on the agreement of the individual being smuggled. The majority of the persons helped to enter the United States illegally are not trafficked but rather smuggled. During smuggling, the individuals being smuggled easily become fatalities of other human violations and crimes. Other than being subjected to unsafe and inhumane conditions during smuggling, there are high possibilities of being subjected to sexual and physical violence and more often at the completion of their journey they are apprehended hostage to pay the debt of their journey or until a certain amount is paid. In extreme cases, the individuals end up being killed to avoid cases arising violation (Department of State, 2006).

Unlike smuggling that is more often a commercial transportation agreement between the smuggler and the individual being smuggled and it is expected that the two parties go their separate way at the end of their business agreement, human trafficking normally targets the individual being trafficked as the commercial commodity or an object of criminal exploitation. Moreover, consent of victimized individuals is not required (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). It is a big offense to traffic human beings. This is a human right violation; the crime revolves around exploitation of the individuals who are victimized. According to Jakobsson and Kotsadam (2013), human trafficking can be defined as the sex trafficking or labor trafficking because in most cases commercial sex activities are often and forcefully introduced upon the victims, fraud, coercion or rather a state in which the people who fall victims are forcibly forced to engage in commercial sex are often under age. In lamans language it is the act of abducting human beings, harboring, transporting, and providing human being for hard labor forcefully without their concent. This is done through coercion and fraud making an individual to become slavery involuntarily (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016).

However, the purpose and motives of the human trafficking are normally clear to the victims and the traffickers. The main aim of these cartels is to make money or get some material gain from the exploitation of their victims. As much as a good number of human trafficking cases begin as smuggling cases in the initial phases, use of force, fraud, or coercion is major elements that play a major role as human trafficking is concerned (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016). Another major difference is that human trafficking does not require crossing of the international boundaries or does it requires transporting victims to difference places within the same country. In fact, victims of the extreme form of human trading are not necessarily illegal foreigners, according to research, they could be American residents, visitors or legal residents and in this case, victims do not compose of only women and children but also male adults (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016).

There are a number of differences between smuggling and human trafficking. In smuggling the individuals being smuggled normally cooperates while in human trafficking individuals being trafficked are not in agreement to traffickers, it has a component of Fraud, coercion, or force applied to the victims (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016). In smuggling, there is no actual or implied coercion while in trafficking entails forced labor or an act of exploiting the victims. In smuggling, the person being smuggled become complicit of the smuggling act offenses; they are not victims of the smuggling act, however, due to changes in the situation under which they are smuggled majority ends up becoming victims while in trafficking persons automatically become victims rather than complicit (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016). Another difference is that the people smuggled are free to leave, change occupation, and free to go their own way once the smuggling agreement expires while victims of trafficking are enslaved, has no freedom of movements, isolated, and more often, their travelling document are confiscated to bar them from escaping or leaving. It is also important to note that smuggling involves crossing of international boundaries while trafficking does not entail such, it can take place within the boundaries of a particular country (Tripp & Mcmahon, 2016).

Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation and Prostitution

Human trafficking is same to organized crimes and according to UN; these criminals earn over seven billions Dollars yearly on human trade (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). Research shows that legalizing prostitution opens up markets for criminal organizations; it also enlarges the markets for commercial sex and creates a safer heaven for criminal activities like persons trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes. Organized crimes and cartel’s organizations cannot register, cannot pay government taxes, and has no concern for prostitutes (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). Legalizing prostitution makes it easier for traffickers to camouflage as customers yet their main aim is to entice these prostitutes to the abduction, and this makes it extremely difficult for authorities to identify, arrest, and prosecute traffickers (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013).

According to the government report of Sweden, huge sum of the prostitution proceeds to go into human trafficker’s pocket. It indicates that in countries where prostitution is flourishing, human trafficking rate is also high (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). To curb trafficking Swedish Government take stern action and prosecution against commercial sex customers, brothel owners, and pimps and within one year, the results were clear (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013). Prostitution decreases with 50% in women and 75% in men while human trafficking for sexual exploitation also drastically decreased since Sweden was no longer a lucrative market for traffickers. This shows that prostitution and human trafficking goes in hand (Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013).

Measures Taken by Homeland Security Department to End or Diminish both Smuggling and Human Trafficking

Fight against human trafficking is a concern of the organs of the United States and not only the Department of the Homeland Security (Tena, 2010). For instance, the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF) that deals with monitoring and combatting human trafficking includes the Defense, Department of State, Interior Security, Office of the Director of the National Intelligent, the National Security Council, Health and Human Service, the Office of the Management and Budget, as well as Ministry of Labor, and Homeland Security Department. The Department of the Homeland Security in the US also has a number of Organizations involved in mitigating the human engraved crime of trafficking and smuggling (Tena, 2010). Some of these organizations include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP). To fight human trafficking effectively, the ICE has laws to guide its operations (ICE, 2013). Their main aim is to break and do away with the worldwide network of cartels carrying out this engrave criminal activity of trafficking persons. Other organizations that form part of the President’s Interagency Task Force includes; the FBI, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Domestic Policy Council, as well as the United State Agency for International Development (ICE, 2013). This forms the larger organ of the US that strives to on a daily basis to fight human smuggling and trafficking. The members of this organization work in unison to with the Federal policies to fight intensely the human trafficking and put in place law enforcement, public awareness, international diplomacy, victim protection, as well as carrying out research on the new ways of traffickers (ICE, 2013).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) propelled the Blue Campaign in 2010 keeping in mind the end goal to unite the segments of open mindfulness, preparing, casualty help, and law requirement examinations. Organizations inside DHS for instance, United States Immigration Services and Citizenship, Customs Enforcement and Immigration among other organizations join forces together with each other and work together with different United States government offices, law implementation, global governments, nongovernmental associations, and the private segment to shield casualties from being trafficked both inside the United States and around the globe (ICE, 2013). Blamelessness Lost is gone for the residential sex trafficking of youngsters. Since the beginning of this organization, more than three thousand four hundred kids have been safeguarded, and about one thousand five hundred grown-ups who abused kids through trafficking of persons for the purpose of prostitution have been sentenced. Notwithstanding the community endeavors depicted above, Cabinet-level divisions address trafficking with projects that mirror every office’s core interest (ICE, 2013). A choice of these projects is depicted underneath. Branch of Health and Human Services the U.S. Branch of Health and Human Services (HHS) addresses human trafficking through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which made the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) in June 2015

USCIS secures casualties of human trafficking and different wrongdoings by giving movement alleviation (ICE, 2013). Human trafficking, otherwise called trafficking in people, is a type of cutting edge bondage in which traffickers draw people with bogus guarantees of business and a superior life. People and their families may likewise succumb to numerous different sorts of wrongdoing in the United States (ICE, 2013). These violations include: assault, kill, murder, aggressive behavior at home, rape, and numerous others. There are two sorts of movement alleviation we give to casualties of human trafficking and different violations these include T nonimmigrant visa and U nonimmigrant visa. In October 2000, Congress made the “T” nonimmigrant status by passing the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTVPA). The enactment fortifies the capacity of law requirement organizations to research and arraign human trafficking, and furthermore offer assurance to casualties (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). The U nonimmigrant status (U visa) is put aside for casualties of specific wrongdoings which have endured mental or physical manhandle and are useful to law requirement or government authorities in the examination or indictment of criminal movement. Congress made the U nonimmigrant visa with the section of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (counting the Battered Immigrant Women’s Protection Act) in October 2000 (Jac-Kucharski, 2012).

The Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI), driven by the Department of Homeland Security, Border Protection, and the United States Traditions and the Department of Transportation, is a component of the DHS Blue Campaign (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). The BLI trains aircraft staff to recognize potential traffickers and human trafficking casualties, and to report their doubts to government law implementation. To date, more than seventy thousand staff in the flight business have been prepared through the BLI, and noteworthy tips keep on being accounted for to law authorization (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). The Blue Campaign thought of a determination that there be human trafficking mindfulness preparing in coordinated into the significant instructional classes at the foundations, for example, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). This could be considerable because a more prominent rate of government law implementation organizations that take an interest in FLETC gain abilities and apparatuses that assistance in controlling the human trafficking and carrying and react as needs be (Jac-Kucharski, 2012).

Those fall victims or the casualties receive the help they require from the nationality and the Migration Organizations. The organization ensures the casualties who are not United States citizens regain their freedom of movement and become free from the bondage of traffickers (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Also, the DHS is mandated to arrest, investigate, and protect all victims of human trafficking. It also provides human immigration relief to non-US victims. It uses the victim-centered approach to fighting the manes that have conquered the whole world.

Finally, the law requirement organizations and judges assume a vital part in movement help accessible for casualties of human trafficking and different violations (DHS, n.d). Migration alleviation alternatives urge casualties to report violations, work with law implementation, and fill in as an instrument for law requirement to help wipe out human trafficking and battle wrongdoing in nearby groups. If it’s not too much trouble see the Information for Law Enforcement Agencies and Judges for more data (DHS, n.d).

Conclusion

The problem of human being trafficking and smuggling has become global manes that requires the participation of all nation to win the war regardless whether your country is much affected or not. Through the indications of the investigations carried out all countries are affected in one way or the other either directly or indirectly. The nations ought to think of more measures that can be utilized to get rid of human trafficking and carrying totally. Consequently, unique offices and instruments ought to be set up worldwide to be utilized as a part of battling human being trafficking and pirating.

References

Jac-Kucharski, A. (2012). The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study. International Migration, 50(6), 150–165. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00777.x

Jakobsson, N., & Kotsadam, A. (2013). The law and economics of international sex slavery: Prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation. European Journal of Law and Economics, 35(1), 87-107. doi:10.1007/s10657-011-9232-0

United States Customs & Border Protection Agency, (n.d). Blue Lightning Initiative. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/human-trafficking/blue-lightning

United States Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Blue Campaign. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign

United States Department of State, (2006). Factsheet: Distinctions between human smuggling and human trafficking. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/m/ds/hstcenter/90434.htm

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2013). Human trafficking and smuggling. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/human-trafficking

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2014). ERO Annual Report: FY 2013 ICE immigration removals. Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/2013-ice-immigration-removals.pdf

Tena, M. (2010, September 30). Modern day slavery in the U.S.-Mexican territory: Human trafficking at the border. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/Border_Brief_FINAL_BW_oct4_10.pdf

Tripp, T. M., & Mcmahon-howard, J. (2016). Perception vs. reality: The relationship between organized crime and human trafficking in metropolitan Atlanta. American Journal of Jakobsson, N., & Kotsadam, A. (2013). The law and economics of international sex slavery: Prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation. European Journal of Law and Economics, 35(1), 87-107. doi:10.1007/s10657-011-9232-0