Human trafficking common -- lawyer

IMLAY CITY - Human trafficking and slavery is alive and well, including in mid-Michigan, law enforcement officials and social service agents were told Wednesday.

While some of the methods of the slavery do not involve physical violence, fear and intimidation of undocumented aliens are a serious and difficult problem, said Katherine Kaufka, a staff attorney with the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center in Chicago.

Kaufka, who spoke at the meeting of the Thumb Area/Bay Area Migrant Resource Council at Sacred Heart Church, said in America there are between 18,000 and 20,000 victims a year of the international slave trade.

Invited to the meeting were members of area police agencies, including the Lapeer County and Huron County sheriff's departments, Imlay City, North Branch, Almont and the state police.

Speaking to the police officials, Kaufka said victims of human trafficking and slavery face a dilemma in seeking help to escape their servitude.

"Often (police) are the first point of contact, but they are often afraid to talk to law enforcement," Kaufka said. "They don't trust government or badges at all."

Identifying victims is also difficult because many of the victims have been brought here to perform illegal acts, such as prostitution, Kaufka said.

Careful questioning and investigation can often lead to the discovery of people brought here and kept in work situations against their will.

New laws provide financial and legal help for illegal immigrants who are victims of human trafficking, Kaufka said. Part of the help requires the help of the victims in identifying and prosecuting those who brought them here.

The law also allows a process to legalize a victim of human trafficking staying in America, Kaufka said.

Many of the victims are lured to America on a promise of good wages and education and then kept in quiet servitude by threats of violence to family members back home or threats to them, Kaufka said. They are also kept in bondage through overwhelming debt obligations to the people who brought them to America.

Domestic and restaurant workers are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.

Human trafficking differs from illegal alien smuggling, because victims of human trafficking are kept in a situation by force or fear, Kaufka said.