At a congressional hearing today, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) pressed the top Biden official tasked with combating human trafficking on the Administration’s efforts to stop the exploitation of women and children, especially at the US southern border—where law enforcement officers are now bracing for a surging humanitarian crisis on the heels of last night’s ending of the emergency measure known as Title 42.

            “Last year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report issued by the State Department pointed out that the United States continues not to mandate human trafficking screening for all foreign national adults in immigration detention or custody and did not screen for trafficking indicators among the people it removed,” said Smith, who authored the historic Trafficking Victims Protect Act (TVPA) of 2000 that requires the annual report and created a comprehensive whole-of-government initiative to combat sex and labor trafficking in the US and around the world.

            “The TIP Report recommends screening all individuals in immigration detention or custody for human trafficking indicators,” said Smith.

            “Has the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) followed through with the State Department’s recommendation? “Are migrants being screened for human trafficking?” Smith asked.

            “We agree with you that all migrants should be screened,” said Cindy Dyer, the US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, who did not specifically address Smith’s question.

            “I will have to defer to my colleagues at DHS,” Dyer said. “Certainly, it’s the perfect time to be asking the question.”

            Chaired by Smith, the Foreign Affairs Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee hearing examined the Administration’s implementation of the TVPA and featured compelling testimony from a panel of expert witnesses including three human trafficking survivors.

            “The United States must not become a safe harbor for abuse of migrant workers,” said Martina Vandenberg, President of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, who testified about a troubling trend where workers are brought to the US with contracts that preclude them from leaving for three years and include steep financial penalties.

            “These penalties, mischaracterized as breach fees, can range from $30,000 to $150,000,” Vandenberg said. “These unconscionable contracts effectively trap these workers in debt bondage, making it impossible for them to leave their jobs. The workers are handcuffed by debt, unable to flee. This is the new American kafala system.”

            “In the 1970s a man took a boy, to whom he was related, to a cabin in a rural part of the country,” said Judge Robert Lung, a trafficking survivor. “The man told the boy to undress and to wait. The boy obeyed him. Moments later another boy entered the room accompanied by two men. The first boy, upon seeing how scared the second boy looked, asked, ‘What’s the matter, why are you so scared?’ The second boy replied, in shock and disbelief, ‘You don’t know, you don’t know!’ The man took the second boy into an enjoining cabin and the two men proceeded to violently rape the first boy. I am the first boy and that was the first time I was trafficked.”

            “Force, fraud and coercion were all used by someone who pretended to be my friend, but ultimately abducted me into being trafficked,” said Gina Cavallo, who also shared her own story. “Over nearly two years from the age of 18, I was prostituted, and sold to the highest bidder, and raped over and over again. I became a commodity to be used for others’ gain.”

            “I can say with certainty that all who have survived human trafficking, how they are living today, and are able to tell their stories is the embodiment of the strength of the human will and human spirit,” said Bella Hounakey, a survivor who was the direct recipient of services offered through the TVPA. “It is a story of more than surviving. It is a story of the power of evil and the human spirit’s refusal to be dominated by it.”

            “It is of upmost importance that this esteemed legislative body passes the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Protection and Prevention Reauthorization Act, serving as a vital instrument in the ongoing battle against trafficking in persons and exploitation on a global scale,” said Becky Murray, Chief Executive Officer at One By One. “By reauthorizing this critical legislation, this committee reaffirms the commitment to the eradication of trafficking and sends a message to the global community that the U.S. is dedicated to leading the way.”

            Smith, who authored the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022, said he plans to reintroduce the legislation in the coming days. Last Congress, Smith’s bill passed the House with overwhelming support but was stalled in the Senate.

            “If what happened to me could just save one person, it would all have been worth it,” Cavallo said.

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