You are on page 1of 6

Sharma 1

Sonal Sharma
Ms. Honey
Government
23 October 2015
Research Paper: Trade Issues
People dream of a better life and will do anything to achieve that wish, and one day a
well-wisher comes by and promises to fulfill it. They persuade that innocent person to come with
them and that human being blindly trust them, and is suddenly caught in a huge trap that
becomes difficult for them to get out from. That was exactly what happened to Manuel who was
a 20-year old married man from South America who decided to come to the United States after
his friend approached him about a work opportunity. Manuel would have to pay a fee to travel to
the US to make money for farm work. His harrowing journey to the United States lasted for
weeks and included being forced by armed men to walk for hours on end as well as being
drugged. During his time there, he was forced to cook and clean for the others but without any
compensation (Nyc.gov). Any person can get caught in the horrible endless process of human
trafficking for many different reasons. Human Trafficking, as Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons defines it, is a recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or
receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the
giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control
over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. The most common exploitations that are
committed are forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking is known as the
diverse form of trade that is as old as trade itself (Lee 1). The numbers are increasing quickly

Sharma 2

and without immediate action, the numbers will continue to grow and will be impossible to
control. Human trafficking needs to stop because this criminal enterprise is growing because its
a high profit and low-risk crime, the criminals who used to sell illegal drugs and guns are adding
to their collection or are now selling human beings. Mandating stricter regulations in the United
States to limit the issues of Human Trafficking, to increase the qualities and quantities of
thorough inspections of transportation methods, extensive search for falsified documents at
border checkpoints, and to increase the amount of these checkpoints near border states must be
enacted because it will decrease the percentage of human trafficking in the United States,
strengthen the law enforcement system in this issue, and strengthen the border patrol system.
To begin with, creating a system where mandated regulations are correctly follow will
help reduce the possibility of having more human trafficking occur in the United States. Human
trafficking is a growing criminal market in the United Sates and will continue to grow without
the proper action to reduce it. Over the past year, the rate of human trafficking in United States
has increased drastically, in a migration study between the U.S. and Mexico found that 70
percent of the Mexicans who entered the U.S. illegally entered with the help of traffickers, and
were deceived by the traffickers and were put into their business (ncjrs.gov). The statistics show
there is a high percentage of victims that come illegally, are lured into the business by the
traffickers. Places within United Sates have great amount of cases revealed on this topic, Over
the last decade, numerous human trafficking cases have been prosecuted in Michigan. The court
dockets detail the horror stories: Children being sold for sex at truck stops, servants held in
captivity and forced to clean for free, and women forced into the sex industry, forfeiting their
earnings (usatoday.com). Human trafficking has been hidden from the public for many years
and now that the issue has got some attention, all these cases within United States has been

Sharma 3

revealed. Noting that increase of human trafficking is a big problem, creating a strong law
enforcement system will decrease the occurrence of this crime.
Intensifying the law enforcement system unit will be beneficial to the cause for a better
understanding of the crime and what needs to be done to stop it. The law enforcement system
has many different roles they must play to combat human trafficking, for the safety and
protection of the country. More training needs to be done in order to establish a stronger system,
change is important and challenging for Federal, State, county, and local law enforcement and
prompts the need for adequate and ongoing education, training, and commitment at all levels of
these agencies. This shift in focus has not been achieved consistently, due in part to the
decentralized structure of our law enforcement system with more than 13,000 local police
departments alone in the United States (Aspe.hhs.org, "Human Trafficking into and Within the
United States"). Many departments and organizations believe that the solution to this issue is to
have more training in order to provide the law enforcement agent with adequate knowledge. The
majority of the local police department had a set opinion on the occurrence of human trafficking,
between 73 and 77 percent, of local, county and state law enforcement in the random sample
perceive human trafficking as rare or non-existent crime in their local communities (ncjrs.gov).
The importance of this problem needs major attention, even in the law enforcement field, and
thats why training is necessary to conduct. Strengthening the law enforcement will help spread
knowledge on the issue, and making sure the problem doesnt affect the country, a specialized
border patrol is necessary.
Finally, a specialized border patrol will allow the searches conducted at borders to be
smoother and easily provided. United Sates border patrol does not have a specialized field of
border patrol that is specifically made for the purpose of combating Human Trafficking. Many

Sharma 4

cases of where trafficking begins, are at the bordering of the states and other countries, The
National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls from Texas than any other state in the
US. 15% of those calls are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area (Dosomething.org, 11 Facts About
Human Trafficking). In order to lower the percentage of human trading in United Sates, a set
border patrol agency specialized in Human Trafficking will concentrate its full attention of that
vital and crucial matter. Many government agencies have realized that they must step up the
training of enforcement agencies in the country, The need for better quality training of more
Federal enforcement and called special attention to specific areas to address background
information on what human trafficking is, recognizing indicators of human trafficking,
interviewing potential victims, working collaboratively with other law enforcement and victim
service providers, establishing memoranda of understanding and information sharing
agreements, and reviewing investigation techniques (Law Enforcement Response to Human
Trafficking and the Implications for Victims). The fact is that Human Trafficking is affecting the
United States and not just the third world countries and in order to withstand it, the country must
adequately train the forces that are protecting the country. A specialized border patrol will allow
the government to have an agency that is responsible for combatting human trafficking, which is
a United States problem too.
Some people believe that Human Trafficking is not a first world problem and only occurs
in third world countries and believe that funding for this cause is unnecessary. Myths about
human trafficking being a third world country problem have always been put into the American
citizens head because they believe that its due to the countrys financial standing and reputation.
Due to this myth, many Americans people perceive funding the cause is not needed, but they are
unaware of the reality. A statistic shows that in the U.S. With 100,000 children estimated to be

Sharma 5

in the sex trade in the United States each year, it is clear that the total number of victims
nationally reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and
sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated (Polarisproject.org, Human Trafficking).
These numbers are only counting the children involved in human trafficking and the number is
shockingly large, this clearly shows that amending the system must take place. Due to the fact
that some people believe that human trafficking isnt a major problem in the country, they
suggest that funding the cause is unnecessary and a waste of money, since the law enforcement
has it under control, Despite this increased involvement, reports show that fewer trafficking
cases have been identified and prosecuted than would be expected given current estimates
(nij.gov, Ending Modern-Day Slavery). The system needs help with understanding that this
issue is really affecting America and better training will come with the help of funding. Human
trafficking is not just a third world problem; it affects United Sates and will continue to do so,
without proper funding for training law enforcement.
In conclusion, mandating stricter and stronger regulations will help to reduce the amount
of human trafficking in United States, with better border patrol searches and will increase
understanding for the issue. Trade Issues has been affecting the world for a long time, trade is the
oldest technique humans have, but the country must understand it and seriously take actions for
the issues. In order to combat this issue, Border Patrol shall create an agency that is specialized
to deal with issues of Human Trafficking, including the thorough searches of any person or
persons entering from a different state or country.

Sharma 6

Work Cited
Baldas, Tresa. "Human Trafficking a Growing Crime in the U.S." Usatoday.com. N.p., 22 Jan.
2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Clawson. Law Enforcement Response to Human Trafficking and the Implications for
Victims: Current Practices and Lessons Learned (n.d.): n. pag. Ncjrs.gov. Web. 18 Oct.
"11 Facts About Human Trafficking." Dosomething.org. Yahoo, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.015.
"Examples Of Human Trafficking." Nyc.gov. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
"HUMAN TRAFFICKING INTO AND WITHIN THE UNITED STATES:." Aspe.hhs.org.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,, 30 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
"Human Trafficking." Polarisproject.org. Polaris, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
Lee, Maggy. Human Trafficking. Cullompton: Willan, 2007. Print.
McGough, Maureen. "Ending Modern-Day Slavery." Nij.gov. N.p., Feb. 2013. Web. 22 Oct.
2015.
S., The United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops/, and Migration And Refugee Servi. The
United States Response to Human Trafficking: Achievements and Challenges (n.d.): n.
pag. Usccb.org. Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

You might also like