| | |  Editorials | Issues | December 2009 
Modern-Day Slavery in Mexico and the United States - 3
 Megan McAdams - Council on Hemispheric Affairs
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December 22, 2009
 |  | The U.S. and Mexico need to collaborate in order to prevent human trafficking and ensure proper treatment for victims of the illegal industry. |  | | |
Mexican Victims in the United States
In response to the human trafficking link between the U.S. and Mexico, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), funded by the U.S. State Department, recently published the Human Trafficking Assessment Tool for Mexico (HTAT). The report states that “one of the greatest challenges regarding trafficking in persons in Mexico is that the phenomenon is believed to be extensive, but has yet to be documented in a systematic manner.” While estimates of human trafficking in Mexico can be somewhat allusive, the U.S. State Department and the United Nations have begun to devote more attention to the issue.
Mexico is one of the world’s largest source countries in the hemisphere and countless numbers of these victims being trafficked into the United States originate here. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mexico ranks “high” as an origin country in its annual trafficking report. Traffickers employ a variety of strategies to ensnare their victims, ranging from false promises of employment in the United States to kidnapping. Often, individuals pay “coyotes,” or immigrant smugglers, to help them cross over into the U.S. These individuals, anxious for the opportunities these coyotes promise, turn over thousands of dollars in transportation fees. However, the line between coyote and trafficker is tenuous at best and smugglers often enslave those in their charge. Mexican women and children are particularly vulnerable to falling prey to traffickers as they are highly valued commodities for sex traffickers supplying destination countries, like the United States and Canada. Due to the Mexico’s proximity to the U.S. and the relaxed government regulations concerning trafficking, a huge percentage of the sex trafficking victims in the U.S. originate in Mexico.
Mexican victims of sex trafficking often appear in the United States either as prostitutes or as bargirls in cantinas. In high volume brothels, according to the State Department, these women and children are forced to service from 10 to 40 clients each day and are extremely vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases and excessive physical violence. While prostitution is illegal in most of the United States, “cantinas” — restaurants and bars where clients watch, grope and, on occasion, have sexual encounters with the young victims — are legal and lucrative businesses.
On November 25, Brooklyn police discovered a sex trafficking ring and found a young Mexican woman who had been forced into prostitution and the buried remains of her two month-old son. The brothel owners, illegal immigrants from Mexico themselves, face criminal charges for sex trafficking in the Brooklyn Federal Court. Domingo Salazar, the man accused of organizing the woman’s capture, allegedly traveled to Mexico, impregnated the young woman and smuggled her back to the United States. Coyotes, or traffickers, intentionally try to impregnate young women because they will be less likely to return home bearing an illegitimate child. This act of coercion is unfortunately a common factor in trafficking Mexican women into brothels in the U.S.
Once she arrived in the U.S., the young woman was forced to engage in sexual activities with 25 clients daily and was regularly abused by her captors. After she gave birth in November of 2007, the owners of the illegal establishment barred her from seeking medical treatment for her infant, who died two months later. After 2 years in bondage, investigators received a tip, raided the brothel, freed the young woman, and arrested the couple. Officials continue to search for other victims of this couple’s dreadful business. In response to the crime and investigation, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged victims to speak out saying, “We all have an obligation to help each other, and if somebody really is being trafficked, you’ve got to make that phone call.” Just as New Yorkers must “help each other,” the U.S. and Mexico need to collaborate in order to prevent human trafficking and ensure proper treatment for victims of the illegal industry. If Mexican authorities fail to promote more stringent measures against human trafficking, these heinous acts will continue to be encountered in the U.S. and other destination countries. Conversely, the U.S. must also address the country’s demand for prostitutes and inexpensive laborers.
In addition to sex trafficking, victims from Mexico are also held captive by farm operators, who exploit them as a source of cheap labor. Ambassador C. de Baca has said that, “the pickles and tomatoes that we eat are more and more being picked by people held against their own will.” While U.S. citizens are starting to become more aware of sexual trafficking, few individuals realize that modern-day slavery is taking place on U.S. farms. Unfortunately, the demand for inexpensive labor in the U.S. often leads to the exploitation of illegal immigrants and trafficking victims. Especially in the current financial climate, more farm and factory owners are in need of cheap labor to ensure that profits remain high despite the economic downturn.
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