Attorney General‘s Annual Report to Congress and Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons Fiscal Year 2008 June 2009 Table of Contents I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1 II. Assessment of U.S. Government Activities in FY 2008………………………….....4 III. FY 2009 Recommendations…………………………………………………………8 IV. Benefits and Services Given Domestically to Trafficking Victims..........................9 A. Department of Health and Human Services…………………………………….....9 B. Department of Justice…………………………………………………….………23 C. Department of Homeland Security……………………………………….………28 D. Department of Labor……………………………………………………………..30 E. Department of State………………………………………………………………30 F. Department of Education………………………………………………………....31 G. Legal Services Corporation……………………………………………………....31 V. Immigration Benefits for Trafficking Victims.........................................................32 A. Continued Presence………………………………………………………………32 B. T-Visa Non-Immigrant Status……………..……………………………………..34 VI. Investigations, Prosecutions and Sentences............................................................35 A. Investigations…………………………………………………………………….35 B. Prosecutions……………………………………………………………………...41 C. Sentences…………………………………………………………………………42 D. Estimating the Number of Victims........................................................................42 VII. International Funding to Combat Trafficking…………………….……………44 VIII. Training and Outreach…………………………………………………………..49 A. Domestic Law Enforcement Training……………………………………………49 B. International Outreach and Law Enforcement Training…………………………52 i C. Outreach to Non-governmental Organizations and the Media ……......................67 D. Department of State’s Outreach to Foreign Governments……………………….73 E. Department of State’s Multilateral Affairs……………………………………….74 IX. Trafficking Studies…………………………………………………………………75 X. President‘s Interagency Trafficking Task Force & Senior Policy Operating Group…………………………………………79 XI. Conclusion..................................................................................................................81 Appendices: Appendix A….BJA/OVC Human Trafficking Task Forces Appendix B….Examples of Criminal Cases Appendix C….HHS Victim Services Network Appendix D….Funds Obligated in FY 2008 for Anti-Trafficking in Persons Projects ii I. Introduction Sadly, there are thousands who are trapped in various forms of enslavement, here in our country….It is a debasement of our common humanity. ~ President Barack Obama Trafficking in persons (TIP), or human trafficking, is a widespread form of modern-day slavery. Traffickers often prey on individuals who are poor, frequently unemployed, or underemployed, and who may lack access to social safety nets. Victims are often lured by traffickers with false promises of good jobs and better lives, and then forced to work under brutal and inhumane conditions. Due to the lengths to which perpetrators go to keep their crimes hidden, it is difficult to accurately estimate the extent of victimization. Nonetheless, the United States has led the world in the fight against this terrible crime both at home and overseas. The centerpiece of U.S. Government efforts to eliminate human trafficking is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), Pub. L. 106-386. The TVPA defines trafficking in persons as ―sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age‖ or ―the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.‖ 22 U.S.C. § 7102(8). This definition applies to both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. The TVPA enhanced three aspects of federal government activity to combat TIP: protection, prosecution, and prevention. The TVPA, which was designed to address the needs of foreign victims of trafficking, provided for a range of new protections and assistance for victims of trafficking; it expanded the crimes and enhanced the penalties available to federal investigators and prosecutors pursuing traffickers; and it expanded the U.S. Government’s international activities to prevent victims from being trafficked. Specifically, the TVPA: Provided for victim assistance in the United States by making foreign trafficking victims eligible for federally funded or administered health and other benefits and services; mandated U.S. Government protections for foreign victims of trafficking and, where applicable, their families; outlined protections from removal, including T non- immigrant status for trafficking victims over the age of 18 who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking (victims under 18 are not required to cooperate in order to receive immigration benefits); and allowed T non- immigrant status holders to adjust to permanent resident status; Created new crimes and enhanced penalties for existing crimes, including forced labor, trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking of adults by force, fraud or coercion, and unlawful conduct with respect to documents; criminalized attempts to engage in these behaviors; and provided for mandatory restitution and forfeiture; 1 Provided for assistance to foreign countries in drafting laws to prohibit and punish acts of trafficking and strengthen investigation and prosecution of traffickers; created programs to assist victims; and expanded U.S. Government exchange and international visitor programs focused on TIP; and Created the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to coordinate the U.S. Government’s anti-trafficking efforts. The TVPA directed the Task Force, among other activities, to: (1) measure and evaluate progress of the United States and other countries in the areas of trafficking prevention, protection, and assistance to victims; (2) expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data; (3) engage in efforts to facilitate cooperation among countries; (4) examine the role of the international sex tourism industry; and (5) engage in consultation and advocacy with governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA 2003), Pub. L. 108-193, reauthorized the TVPA and added responsibilities to the U.S. Government’s anti-trafficking portfolio. In particular, the TVPRA 2003 mandated new information campaigns to combat sex tourism, added refinements to the federal criminal law provisions, and created a new civil action that allows trafficking victims to sue their traffickers in federal district court. In addition, the TVPRA 2003 required an annual report from the Attorney General to Congress. This report was mandated to provide information on the following U.S. Government activities to combat TIP: The number of persons in the United States who received benefits or other services under section 107(b) of the TVPA in connection with programs or activities funded or administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Board of the Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, and other appropriate federal agencies during the previous Fiscal Year; The number of persons who had been granted ―continued presence‖ in the United States under TVPA section 107(c)(3) during the previous Fiscal Year; The number of persons who applied for, had been granted, or had been denied T non- immigrant status or otherwise provided status under section 101(a)(15)(T)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(T)(i)) during the previous Fiscal Year; The number of persons who were charged or convicted under one or more of sections 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1592, or 1594 of title 18, United States Code, during the previous Fiscal Year, and the sentences imposed against each such persons; The amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant issued by any federal agency to carry out the purposes of sections 106 and 107 of the Act, or section 134 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, during the previous Fiscal Year; The nature of training conducted pursuant to section 107(c)(4) during the previous Fiscal Year; and 2 The activities undertaken by the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG) on Trafficking in Persons to carry out its responsibilities under section 105(f) of the TVPRA 2003 during the previous Fiscal Year. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA 2005), Pub. L. 109-164, reauthorized the TVPA and authorized new anti-trafficking resources, including (1) grant programs to assist state and local law enforcement efforts in combating TIP and to expand victim assistance programs to U.S. citizens or resident aliens subjected to trafficking; (2) pilot programs to establish residential rehabilitative facilities for trafficking victims, including one program aimed at juveniles; and (3) extraterritorial jurisdiction over trafficking offenses committed overseas by persons employed by or accompanying the federal government. The TVPRA 2005 also expanded the reporting requirements of the TVPRA 2003, providing for the inclusion of information in the Attorney General’s annual report to Congress on the amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant under sections 202 and 204 of the TVPRA 2005. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA 2008), Pub. L. 110-457, reauthorized the TVPA for four years and authorized new measures to combat human trafficking, including efforts to increase effectiveness of anti-TIP programs, providing interim assistance for potential child victims of trafficking, and enhancing the ability criminally punish traffickers. For example, the TVPRA 2008: Creates new crimes imposing severe penalties on those who obstruct or attempt to obstruct the investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes. These violations are now punishable to the same extent as the trafficking crimes themselves; Broadens the crime of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Previously, the government was required to prove that the defendant actually knew that force, fraud, or coercion would be used to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act. Now the government need merely prove that the defendant acted in reckless disregard of the fact that such means would be used; Broadens the reach of the crime of sex trafficking of minors by eliminating the requirement to show that the defendant knew that the person engaged in commercial sex was a minor in cases where the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to observe the minor; Expands the crime of forced labor by providing that ―force‖ is a means of violating the law (in addition to making threats of serious harm, using a scheme or plan, or abusing the law). It clarifies that the statute may be violated by offenders who engage in any one or all of these means. Additionally, the new law includes broad definitions of the previously undefined statutory terms ―serious harm‖ and ―abuse of the law‖; 3 Imposes criminal liability on those who, knowingly and with intent to defraud, recruit workers from outside the United States for employment within the United States by making materially false or fraudulent representations; Enhances the penalty for conspiring to commit trafficking-related crimes. The maximum penalty for violating this provision is now equal to the penalty for the underlying substantive offense; Penalizes those who knowingly benefit financially from participating in a venture that engaged in trafficking crimes. The TVPRA 2008 expands the prohibition against profiting from sex trafficking to cover those who benefit financially from a venture engaged in peonage, forced labor, or document servitude; Expands the reach of criminal anti-trafficking statutes by allowing the government to prosecute trafficking crimes committed outside the United States, where the alleged offender is a national or lawful permanent resident of the United States or is present in the United States; and Expands the government’s authority to detain pending trial defendants who have been charged with trafficking offenses as a risk of flight or a danger to the community. This report, the sixth submitted to Congress since 2004, details U.S. Government 1 activities to combat TIP during Fiscal Year 2008 (FY 2008). In addition to reporting this information, the report includes an assessment of U.S. government activities based on improvements since the last annual report and recommendations for further improvement. II. Assessment of U.S. Government Activities in FY 2008 In the May 2008 annual report, the U.S. Government made eight recommendations for improving its efforts to combat TIP: Recommendation #1: Create a pathway to citizenship for qualified T visa holders through publication of a regulation for the adjustment of status for T visa holders. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: DHS/USCIS publication of the Adjustment of Status Regulation for T and U visa holders creating a pathway to citizenship for eligible T visa recipients. Processing the first Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) TIP survivors will be an important step forward. Recommendation #2: Ensure that U.S. citizen victims are as vigorously identified, protected, and assisted as foreign nationals, including sufficient case management. 1 This report reflects information from various components of the Department of Justice, as well as information reported to the Department by other U.S. government agencies and departments involved in anti- human trafficking efforts. 4 FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: HHS’s U.S. Domestic Trafficking in Persons Pilot Program constituted HHS’s first initiative to identify U.S. citizen and LPR trafficking victims, track their progress through victim services and case management, and solicit frontline feedback regarding the challenges the victims encounter in accessing benefits and services. The TVPRA 2005 gave HHS authority to conduct new initiatives with this victim population, including direct services and shelters for minor sex trafficking victims. However, these initiatives did not receive funding. In June 2008, the FBI Crimes Against Children Unit coordinated a national sting operation entitled Operation Cross Country to combat domestic sex trafficking in children and locate child victims. Recommendation #3: Increase inter-agency efforts to combat trafficking for labor exploitation, in addition to sex trafficking. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: DOS G/TIP focused increasingly on forced labor, in addition to sex trafficking, in its annual TIP Report and in public diplomacy. Through outreach and intensified diplomacy, DOS and DOL are achieving heightened international and national attention on trafficking for forced labor and forced child labor purposes around the world, with particular emphasis on major industrial, fishing, and agricultural sectors. In pursuing forced labor/forced child labor issues, DOS and DOL have strengthened ties with pertinent U.S. business federations. Examples include the cocoa industry and the fish and shrimp processing industries. Likewise, working relations have been strengthened with labor-oriented NGOs. DOL trained U.S. Labor Officers posted at U.S. Embassies abroad to assist in meeting its requirements to publish a list of goods from countries produced with forced labor and child labor under Section 105(b) of the 2005 TVPRA. DOL will use Labor Officers’ reports, along with research by its own staff and contractors and information gathered through the public information request and public hearing, to draft its list. DOL relies on Labor Officers posted at U.S. Embassies abroad to gather and report information on forced labor and child labor in the countries where they serve. To support Labor Officers in this role, DOL teamed with State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) to organize and host two training events on these issues, one held March 27-28, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand, and one held April 9-11, 2008, at the DOS in Washington, DC. 5 DOL partnered with the HHS to develop mapping overlays that will assist the DOL’s Office of the Inspector General with identifying potential human trafficking ―hot spots.‖ DHS/ICE developed a brochure, booklet, and wallet card outlining indicators of forced child labor to help identify merchandise that may be produced with forced child labor. DHS/ICE hosted conferences on forced child labor and trafficking in Miami on December 11-13, 2007, and in Singapore on April 1-3, 2008. In September 2008, DHS/ICE launched an International Forced Labor Interagency Working Group to foster increased cooperation and exchange of ideas among U.S. Government agencies that address international forced labor issues. Recommendation #4: Ensure that law enforcement agents and service grantees, subcontractors, and partners collaborate expeditiously to identify victims, provide care, and secure immigration relief. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: Continued outreach and training on the victim-centered approach; DOJ is providing new immersion training for Human Trafficking Task Forces as well as training tools and guidelines. HHS’s Street Outreach grantees, intermediaries contractors, and Rescue and Restore Regional program awardees are selected for their ability to identify and facilitate care for trafficking victims. Additionally, they are evaluated according to their ability to collaborate with law enforcement so as to secure immigration relief for victims. In FY 2008, HHS’s coalition management sub-awardees also oversaw intensification of local and regional efforts to facilitate improved collaboration between NGOs and law enforcement, working to ensure that foreign trafficking victims received immigration relief in a timely manner. Recommendation #5: Develop educational materials on U.S. TIP for dissemination through education and community based entities. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: During 2008, the Department of Education identified new listservs, organizational partners, and ways to promote its fact sheet, ―Human Trafficking of Children in the United States - A Fact Sheet for Schools.‖ Certain NGOs, such as the FAIR Fund and Polaris Project, have worked in public high schools raising awareness about trafficking and empowering youth. They have also fostered campus coalitions against trafficking. NHTRC hotline training and technical assistance efforts are currently managed by the Polaris Project, an anti-trafficking NGO with particular expertise in U.S. citizen 6 and LPR trafficking issues. With the re-launch of NHTRC, HHS has ensured that U.S. trafficking-in-persons educational components are fully integrated into HHS’s national public awareness campaign. Recommendation #6: Continue to expand inter-agency coordination of TIP efforts including international funding. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: In March 2008, the SPOG created the Global TIP Coordination Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is: (1) reviewing current U.S. Government funds to fight human trafficking; (2) coordinating broadly to ensure complementarity in programs and funding; and (3) examining funding priorities. The Subcommittee lays the groundwork for even greater consultation and more coherent international programming of finite U.S. assistance funds. Recommendation #7: Ensure child victims of severe forms of human trafficking (both foreign and U.S. citizen) are provided access to services and benefits regardless of their ability to assist law enforcement. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: HHS’s Child Protection Specialist, hired in FY 2008, is dedicated to expanding and deepening the capacity of HHS, DOJ, DHS, and NGOs to collaborate in the identification of, and service provision for, foreign child victims of severe forms of trafficking. Foreign minor victims of trafficking are not required to assist law enforcement in an investigation or prosecution in order to receive an Eligibility Letter. The U.S. Domestic Trafficking in Persons Pilot Program and, more specifically, its expansion to include Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) grantees, simultaneously gauged and leveraged HHS’s capacity to identify minor U.S. citizen and LPR trafficking victims. Recommendation #8: Expand media campaigns. FY 2008 Measures to Implement this Recommendation: Expanded awareness campaigns included: o DHS: (1) ―In Plain Sight‖ – in outdoor venues in several major cities; (2) Multilingual PSA – expand use with the public; (3) U.S. Customs and Border Protection human trafficking awareness campaign expanded to include tear sheets in Chinese, Russian and Spanish; (4) ICE awareness campaign on forced child labor. o HHS: Rescue and Restore pilot campaign with outdoor advertisers in Newark, New Jersey; 19 more cities were added in May. HHS has focused its public 7