Alan R. Warren - In Chains: The Dangerous World of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the trade of people for forced labor or sex. It also includes the illegal extraction of human organs and tissues. And it is an extremely ruthless and dangerous industry plaguing our world today.

Most believe human trafficking occurs in countries with no human rights legislation. This is a myth. All types of human trafficking are alive and well in most of the developed countries of the world like the United States, Canada, and the UK. It is estimated that $150 billion a year is generated in the forced labor industry alone. It is also believed that 21 million people are trapped in modern day slavery exploited for sex, labor, or organs.

Most also believe since they live in a free country, there is built-in protection against such illegal practices. But for many, this is not the case. Traffickers tend to focus on the most vulnerable in our society, but trafficking can happen to anyone. You will see how easy it can happen in the stories included in In Chains.

As we were finishing this book, news broke that Robert Kraft was arrested and charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution. The charges resulted from a string of arrests on massage parlors in Jupiter, Florida, which according to the Palm Beach state attorneys office, were used for prostitution and human trafficking.

For those that dont know who Robert Kraft is, he is the chairman and chief executive officer of The Kraft Group - a diversified holding company with assets in paper, packaging, sports, and entertainment. Kraft himself owns the NFLs New England Patriots, and Major Leagues Soccer team The New England Revolution, as well as the Gillette Stadium that both teams play in. Kraft was allegedly videotaped while involved in sexual activity with the female masseuse. The spokesperson for Kraft denied that he engaged in any illegal activity.

Investigators suspected that the managers of a day spa were trafficking the women working there, forcing them to perform sex acts on their clients. The state attorney announced to the media that there would be a total of 25 people charged with first-degree misdemeanors for soliciting prostitution.

Robert Kraft is a billionaire, and even if he is convicted of these charges, he only faces a maximum of 120 days in county jail. At the time the incident took place, Kraft was a resident of another state, Massachusetts, not Florida where the spa was located. Misdemeanors such as these are not extraditable offenses. A further report was released to the press claiming that Kraft was not even the biggest name to be involved in the scandal, or to be arrested.

According to Attorney Stewart Ryan, who handled several cases like this for the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office says,

The purpose of such large-scale busts are to shut it down at the top level, as opposed to just going in and arresting people on prostitution charges, and then the shop moves down the street and opens up again a week later.

Ryan also claims,

It is not uncommon for such large-scale prostitution cases to also involve charges of human trafficking, as the people brought in to work, sometimes from another country, come with the understanding something very different than they end up doing, and find themselves working under brutal conditions with few options for recourse or escape.

At this point, Kraft doesnt even have to appear in court to face the charges. He can appoint an attorney from Florida, and they will file a notice of representation on his behalf. That will ensure Kraft has retained legal counsel, and the counsellor will represent him in court. Most likely, there will be a plea agreement of some money, and no trial or jail time.

The owner of this particular spa in Jupiter, Hua Zhang, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. He was just one of 11 arrested. Detective Snyder, an investigator working this case, claims that they have followed as much as $20 million going in and out of China from this business. And Florida ranks third in the United States for the number of human trafficking cases that have been reported.

In this trafficking operation, most of the women were brought to the United States from China under the guise of having legitimate jobs in the spa. Most of them believed they were going to work there legitimately when they arrived. They soon found themselves forced to work in the sex trade, and confined to sleeping and eating in the same place they were working. Quite often in these types of operations, all of the victims live in one or two rooms, with only a kitchen and dresser in their place. They stay in their room at all times except when they are working in the massage rooms. They are trapped there until they can pay off the debt their captors say they owe for being brought to the United States. The amount due is usually inflated, and the victims are only given pennies on the dollar of what the men pay for sex.

Heres where things get very complicated. When it comes to these situations, law enforcement can arrest and charge the women as well. The law states that if they were in the US working illegally, they can be arrested. And it does happen, quite often, that victims of human trafficking are arrested. So, if these women who were smuggled into the US from China are charged with participating in criminal activity, they will be subject to prosecution and deportation. Instead, if they are designated as human trafficking victims, they are eligible for a T visa, which was created in 2000 specifically for human trafficking victims.

According to Sarah Paoletti, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law Schools International Human Rights and Immigration Clinic, the road from being rescued by law enforcement to getting residency in the United States is a very long one. Police will either treat them as trafficking victims or as prostitutes. Its possible they could end up as criminals rather than victims. Unfortunately, the criminal route happens quite often.

The T Visa was created in October of 2000, and according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, only 5,000 are available each year. Typically, victims of sex trafficking dont have the money to secure any legal advice or attorneys. Without the resources of human rights organizations, these victims fall through the cracks and end up with a conviction, and later deported back to their country of origin. Since the passage of the T Visa law, there have only been between 7,000 and 9,000 of these visas granted in total roughly 500 per year much less than the 5,000 available.