An estimated 17,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. from Mexico each year, according to the U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Representatives from both sides of the border are gathering in Albuquerque today through Friday to discuss this issue at a conference titled "Modern-Day Slavery in the Americas: A Regional Approach to a Global Epidemic."
UNM's Latin American and Iberian Institute is hosting the event, along with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and the Mexican Consulate of Albuquerque. Talks are being held at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel on Louisiana Boulevard.
Victims of human trafficking are mostly traded for commercial and sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. Department of State. Victims are made to work in commercial areas, such as agriculture and sweatshops, or as domestic servants.
The human trafficking business makes about $9.5 billion each year, which is second to drug trafficking revenue made through international
criminal networks, according to the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report.
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Brianne Bigej, organizer of the conference, said this is a huge money-making market and that traffickers lure individuals with the promise of safety and a well-paying job.
"A lot of people believe that they are going to be having a better life - and maybe even pay thousands of dollars for that better life - and then end up being enslaved in labor situations or a sex situation," she said. "Some of them are trafficked, who have been kidnapped, but I think the focus is more people that are assuming they are going to be going for something better and reaching a better state."
Bigej said the U.S. must take action to stop traffickers using the New Mexico border as a point of entry into America.
Bigej said New Mexico was one of the first states to pass a statute regarding human trafficking, and that is why the institute decided to hold a conference in Albuquerque.
"If our government is willing to provide help and come up with stricter laws for the traffickers themselves - this is a great place to hold the conference, because we have the support of the government," she said.
Bigej said most of the victims trafficked through the New Mexico border are for commercial purposes.
"What we see mostly on this regional border is the humans that are being trafficked is - there is some sex trafficking - but the majority is labor, so people are trafficked and they end up working crazy odd hours in slavery conditions, which is not their choice," she said.
About 80 percent of trafficking victims are women, and more than half of slaves are children, says the U.S. government. On average, a slave is sold for about $90, according to the Not For Sale campaign.
Traffickers prevent their victims from escaping through intimidation and violence, Bigej said. She said most victims are held against their will through coercion.
"I believe a lot of it is coercive, (as in) 'If you don't do this, we are going to do this,' or if they are in the states without papers that threat of going to jail. 'We're going to turn you into immigration' - that's a huge threat," she said. "I mean, you can imagine some of the fear for an immigrant."
Victims are trafficked into the U.S. from Africa, Asia, India, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Russia and Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Bigej said some victims are transported from the U.S. to other areas due to international trafficking rings.
"They don't always stay in the United States - that's the thing in trafficking rings," she said. "They move people from different areas to different areas, through borders and states and national borders," she said.
An estimated 27 million people from around the world are currently victims of human trafficking, according to the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report.
"That's more than there was during the slavery trade from Africa 300 years ago," she said.
To report human trafficking, contact the U.S. Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at 888-373-7888.
