THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WORKING TO MAKE AMERICA SAFER:
COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

"America will not stand idly by as those who seek to profit from modern-day slavery ignore the humanity of their prisoners and show their disdain for the rule of law. We will defend the rule of law, and we will protect victims of human trafficking." - Attorney General John Ashcroft

• Making Human Trafficking a Top Priority for the Justice Department. In March 2001, Attorney General Ashcroft announced that combating trafficking in persons would be a top civil rights priority for the Bush Administration's Justice Department. In the three years since, the Department has taken many steps to eliminate human trafficking in America.
• Dramatically Increasing Our Investigations. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 - 2003, the Justice Department opened 210 new investigations, more than double the number opened in the previous three years. As of July 2004, we have 169 open trafficking investigations - more than twice as many as were open in January 2001.
• Prosecuting Record Numbers of Cases. In FY 2001 - 2003, the Justice Department has charged 110 human traffickers - nearly a three-fold increase compared to the previous three years. 78 involved allegations of sex trafficking.
• Convicting More Traffickers. In FY 2001 - 2003, the Justice Department secured 77 convictions and guilty pleas, a 50% increase over the previous three years. 59 were convicted on sex trafficking charges.
• Creating New Initiatives to Combat Traffickers:
  Operation Predator: Catching Sex Tourists. The Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and U.S. Attorneys' Offices have prosecuted sex tourists caught through "Operation Predator," a Department of Homeland Security enforcement initiative targeting sex tourists and tour operators who seek to exploit children overseas.
  Innocence Lost: Shutting Down Child Prostitution. CEOS and the FBI have developed "Innocence Lost," an enforcement and training initiative for state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of cases involving child prostitution in 13 U.S. cities: Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, DC. The pilot training took place for a week in September 2003. There will be four additional training programs in 2004.
  
• Developing New Ways to Target Human Trafficking. The Department of Justice has undertaken several initiatives to further increase prosecutions of human trafficking, including:
  Expanding the Department's national toll-free complaint line by linking it with Department of Health and Human Services' national awareness campaign and hotline.
  Building and expanding federal teams, including FBI and ICE agents, to be deployed to target cities with a known concentration of victims.
  Expanding training, technical advice, and law enforcement cooperation to source countries to ensure accountability for perpetrators outside the continental United States.
  Empowering and engaging local and state law enforcement through partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services to target their awareness campaign to three U.S. cities of known concentration of trafficking victims, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
  Developing a model statute for interested state legislatures that would like to pass laws criminalizing trafficking in persons.
  
• Providing Local Law Enforcement with Training Needed to Fight Trafficking. Attorney General Ashcroft hosted a "Domestic Prostitution and Trafficking Conference" in July 2004 to train state and local law enforcement to combat trafficking in persons. President George W. Bush spoke to the conference to make clear the Bush Administration's clear commitment to ending human trafficking. Conference participants developed task forces to engage in law enforcement actions, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations as well as local community and faith-based leaders, where appropriate.
• Recent Successes:
  Florida Man Sentenced on Human Trafficking-Related Charges. In May 2004, Juan Ramos was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to hold workers in involuntary servitude and harboring undocumented workers. In March 2004, his brother, Ramiro Ramos, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison. Additionally, both brothers were fined $20,000 and ordered to forfeit their claims to property valued at over $3 million. The Ramos brothers were labor contractors who had undocumented Mexican citizens transported to Florida to work. Once in Florida, they were forced to work until they paid off their transportation debt. The defendants threatened the workers with violence if they left prematurely, and brutally beat a van driver and several of his employees.
  South Texas Sex Slavery Case Prosecuted. In January 2004, seven men who had confined women in alien smuggling "safe houses" near the US-Mexico border and had raped them repeatedly were convicted on trafficking and forced servitude-related charges. Juan Carlos Soto admitted to running a human smuggling operation, holding women from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador against their will, raping several of the women, and forcing them to do work without pay. His brother, Armando Soto-Huarto, helped lead the smuggling organization and acknowledged not only his role in holding women against their will until their smuggling fees were repaid by their families or through compelled service to the organization, but also to knowing of the ongoing rapes.
  Forced Prostitution Ring Uncovered in New York. In February 2004, five individuals were indicted for allegedly operating a sex trafficking ring that smuggled a steady stream of Mexican women into the U.S. illegally and forced them into commercial sexual activity in Queens and Brooklyn.
  
• Using the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to Stop These Crimes. The Justice Department has prosecuted 28 cases involving 72 traffickers under statutes created in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). 75% of those cases involve charges of sexual exploitation against 55 traffickers. In addition, the law provides assistance for victims and more than 400 victims of trafficking have been provided federal assistance to date through this law.
• Assisting Victims with Continued Presence and T Visas. Trafficking victims are crime victims and the Justice Department treats them like victims. In 2001 and 2002, the Justice Department has helped federal immigration authorities grant 490 requests for continued presence. The Department has also helped with the T visa programs. These programs allow certain trafficking victims to live and work legally in the U.S. while their cases are investigated and prosecuted, and enable them to obtain some refugee-type benefits.