 "Photo: Miguel de Jesus")
Many police officers, prosecutors and judges are unaware of Texas’ human trafficking law and how to identify a trafficking crime, according to a report released Monday by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte.
Human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second-largest criminal industry in the world, Van de Putte said.
“Human trafficking has been on the rise here in Texas, with more than 20 percent of all U.S. victims found right here in the state of Texas,” she said.
The report, titled “The Texas Response to Human Trafficking,” recommends that Legislature provide support to educate local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and the judiciary on human trafficking and create a task force that can identify victims of human trafficking in investigations.
Victims of human trafficking are forced to work in domestic servitude, agricultural industries and the commercial sex trade, which includes prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography and live-sex shows, the report says.
Van De Putte, a Democrat from San Antonio, has filed a bill for the 2009 legislative
session called the “Texas Anti-Human Trafficking Act,” which addresses some of the report’s recommendations. If passed, the bill will create a human trafficking prevention task force under the attorney general’s office and require a four-hour training session for new peace officers.
The bill requires the task force to train law enforcement officers to identify victims of human trafficking. The bill also requires that the task force to present a report of its activities and recommendations to the state every even-numbered year.
Adrian Reyna, a legislative assistant to Van de Putte, said the senator will file two more bills meeting more recommendations of the report.
“We are using the report as a guidebook,” Reyna said.
Though the cost of the bill has not been estimated, Reyna said Van de Putte wants $5 million for state and local law enforcement offices and another $5 million for the attorney general’s office.
The report also found that under current Texas law, companies convicted of human trafficking can still conduct business. The report recommends stricter laws and state authority to prosecute human trafficking cases, as most happen at the federal level.
“We have no current authority to prosecute this,” Abbott said. “We do it only when we are deputized to assist in the prosecution with the U.S. Attorneys Offices or asked by a local prosecutor.”
In 2003, Texas and Washington became the first states to enact laws to criminalize human trafficking. No prosecutions in Texas have been made under this law.
According to the U.S. State Department, between 14,500 and 17,500 people from Asia, South and Central America and Eastern Europe are trafficked into the United States each year, and five out of every 10 travel through Texas on Interstate 10, according to state senators.
