Human Trafficking- Elizabeth Schroeder(FGCU)

Some people think that human trafficking only exists in other countries, but sadly, human trafficking is prevalent in America today. Human trafficking assists illegal transferring of immigrants across the United States border. In addition, it supplies structured criminal groups with a source of income.  It has been estimated that 14,500 to 17,000 people, men, women, and children, are being tracked into the U.S. on an annual basis. These individuals are being sold, smuggle, and beaten. Many of them are being forced to work punishing jobs such as prostitution, strippers, factory workers, and laborers. Men, women, and children also are forced to into labor such as agriculture, domestic service, sweatshops, and construction work, and they are receiving little, if any, pay. Americans need to work against human trafficking because of the psychological issues as well as the personal issues that it has on society. In order to prevent trafficking in the U.S, the Department of State began to monitor this issue in 1994 (human  trafficking).

Katya, a Russian foreign exchange student from a university, was coming to Virginia Beach, Va. to work at a summer job placement. When Katya and her friend arrived at the airport two men who spoke Russian and were holding signs with their names on it greeted them. The men stated that they had been reassigned to a job in Detroit as waitresses in order to increase their English speaking skills. When the girls arrived at the hotel, they were held at gunpoint and forced to work at a strip club for a year. Fortunately, the young girls escaped after months of planning and were brought to the FBI. Americans need to be more aware of tragedies such as this that are happening in our country in order to help prevent them, for not every trafficker is as fortunate as Katya (MSN).

Reference:

http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/united_states_of_america

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22083762/

3 Responses to “Human Trafficking- Elizabeth Schroeder(FGCU)”

  1. student says:

    I have heared of human trafficing in the United States. But instead of 17,000 people I have heared of almost 50,000 people being trafficed. A large number of them become slaves for households around the nation and most of the neighbors do not even know that they are there. This is a huge problem that needs to be fixed because eventhough slavery has been abolished for over 150 years there is still slavery going on in the United States. This is not just a problem here in the United States this is a huge problem all around the world, especially in south Asia.

    By: Andrew Grillo

  2. student says:

    In order to help the victims of human trafficking, the United States government has created a new program called “T” Visa program. This program sets forth a procedure of illegal alien victims to obtain permanent status in the United States. The statue allows them to stay in the United States if it is determined that the victims would suffer more if they returned home to their native country. Furthermore, “victims under the legal age of 21 could apply for non-immigration status for their parents” (HumanTrafficking.org). I think this act is a positive way to help the victims of human trafficking. This problem is not well known throughout the United States and the people of our country need to become more socially informed of what is occurring.

    “Human Trafficking Best Practices” http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/united_states_of_america/best_practices

    Francesca Guerra - FGCU - Intro to Sociology

Leave a Reply