Slavery in the 21st century and in New York: what has the state's legislature done?

• Author: Hogan, Kathleen K.

1. INTRODUCTION **

   At this very moment, a young Mexican girl, who was promised a job or marriage, could be coming to New York, only to be forced into dehumanizing prostitution. At this very moment, a migrant farm worker could be toiling away in a labor camp in some rural location in New York, forced to work, held against his will, and living on a pittance. At this very moment, a married couple could be bringing a group of Peruvians to New York, promising them a better future, only to confiscate their passports on arrival and force them to endure grueling labor in a sweatshop under inhumane conditions.

   These stories are real-life examples of horrendous human trafficking acts that have occurred and continue to occur in New York State. (1) These degrading human rights violations are a form of modern day slavery, and they are alive and well in the United States, particularly in New York. (2) Currently, unlike other states, New York does not have an anti-trafficking statute that mandates criminal repercussions for traffickers. Several anti-trafficking bills have been proposed, but most have died on the Assembly or Senate floor. (3) The present anti-trafficking proposal was introduced in January of 2007, and it is currently being examined by both houses of the State's legislature. (4)

   This Note examines the current proposed anti-trafficking statute and other past statutory proposals that have come from the New York State legislature. It assesses their strengths and weaknesses, particularly in comparison with anti-trafficking laws in other states. It offers ways in which to develop a more effective law which will aid in the rehabilitation of the trafficking victims, as well as ways to develop a more effective law enforcement body which will aid in the capture of the traffickers.

   Part II of this Note provides an overview of human trafficking with a particular focus on the crisis in New York. Part III considers the anti-trafficking legislation at the federal as well as the state level, and examines the particular importance of specific state-mandated anti-trafficking statutes. Part IV examines the proposed New York State anti-trafficking legislation by analyzing its strengths and weaknesses, while recommending improvements to the proposed legislation. Part V concludes with recommendations for measures that New York State can take with regards to establishing a more comprehensive community approach in combating human trafficking.

2. HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NEW YORK

   Human trafficking is the criminal commercial exchange of human beings, who are subjected to involuntary acts, such as sexual exploitation or forced labor. (5) Trafficking involves a process of using physical force, fraud, deception, or other forms of coercion or intimidation to obtain, recruit, harbor, and transport people. (6) This involuntary servitude is described as a "form of modern-day slavery." (7) Victims include "young children, teenagers, men and women." (8) The most widespread form of human trafficking involves involuntary sexual servitude, which includes forcing trafficking victims into prostitution. (9) Human trafficking is different from unlawful immigration or smuggling in that it involves physical force, intimidation, fraud, and deception, all of which are used by traffickers to exploit the status of undocumented aliens. (10)

   Human trafficking is a very profitable form of organized crime. (11) It is the most profitable form of illegal trade worldwide, second to the trafficking of arms and drugs. (12) Criminal groups make more than nine billion dollars in annual revenue globally from the trafficking of human beings. (13) Furthermore, it is estimated that 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked each year across international borders. (14) The federal government estimates that nearly 18,000 persons are trafficked annually into the United States. (15) International trafficking victims have been identified in twenty states, with the majority located in Florida, California, and New York. (16)

   New York is a significant hub for trafficking in the United States. (17) Federal officials have uncovered, dismantled, and prosecuted various crime rings across the state involved in human trafficking. The following horror stories are a brief sampling of the examples of human slave activity that have been uncovered in New York. In 2002, the federal government indicted six individuals who participated in a plot to "recruit, transport and harbor undocumented Mexican migrant workers, and then held them in conditions of forced labor at migrant labor camps near Buffalo, New York." (18) In 2004, a Mexican forced-prostitution ring was discovered operating from Flushing, Queens. (19) The Carreto brothers, the indicted defendants, illegally smuggled a number of Mexican women to New York with the purpose of forcing them into prostitution. (20) These women were promised jobs and marriage by the defendants, but were instead forced into prostitution rings. (21) Prosecutors said that the Carreto brothers would "recruit young, uneducated women and girls from impoverished areas of Mexico and use some combination of deception, fraud, coercion, rape, forced abortion, threats and violence to compel them to prostitute themselves." (22) In 2005, Alex Babaev pled guilty in Brooklyn to the sex trafficking of women from Azerbaijani. (23) He admitted to bringing these women to work as prostitutes, taking their passports away, and using "threats of, and actual, violence against the victims to secure their services." (24) During this same year, two defendants were extradited to the United States after serving eight years in a Mexican prison. (25) These defendants recruited and smuggled roughly sixty deaf Mexicans to the United States "with the ... purpose of exploiting and abusing them for profit.... The Mexican aliens were forced to work under conditions of servitude, peddling key chain trinkets on the streets and subways of New York City." (26) In 2006, a husband and wife trafficking team were sentenced to prison for orchestrating "a scheme to illegally obtain visas for Peruvian aliens" wanting to come to the United States. (27) The couple charged the aliens a smuggling fee "ranging from $6,000 to $13,000," and upon arrival, the team confiscated their passports, and, by threatening to turn them over to law enforcement, forced the aliens to work. (28) Just recently, in January of 2007, a man from Queens pleaded guilty to recruiting Korean women to work as prostitutes. (29) The defendant operated a network of over twenty-five Korean-owned brothels located throughout the northeastern United States, several of which were located in Queens. (30) These brothels were "operated under the cover of legitimate businesses." (31) Because there are no laws specific to human trafficking in New York State, these defendants were prosecuted in federal court. (32) The following section will discuss statutes that the federal government has created to combat trafficking. In addition, it will examine several state legislatures that have enacted anti-trafficking legislation and why there is a strong need for states to establish their own laws rather than simply rely on federal counterparts.

3. ANTI-TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION AT THE FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL

   Human trafficking is a plight that exists not just in New York, but in other states nationwide. (33) In response to this crisis, the federal government and several state legislatures have promulgated anti-trafficking legislation. On the federal level, historically, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude. (34) The government recently established the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA), (35) which "supplements existing laws that apply to human trafficking including those passed to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment." (36) The VTVPA strengthens criminal enforcement, prosecution, and penalties against traffickers. (37) It provides new protections to victims, and enables victims of severe forms of trafficking to seek benefits and services that will help them rebuild their lives. (38) The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, a set of new amendments made to the VTVPA by the federal government, seeks to increase the penalties for convicted traffickers and strengthen the rights of trafficking victims. (39) These amendments empower victims to, among other things, bring federal civil suits against traffickers for actual damages. (40) The third round of amendments to the VTVPA by the federal government produced the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. (41) These amendments establish programs and initiatives to assist and support trafficking victims, including "local in-country nongovernmental organization-operated hotlines, culturally and linguistically appropriate protective shelters, and regional and international nongovernmental ... networks and databases on trafficking." (42)

   On the state level, several legislatures have responded to the human trafficking crisis in the United States. Just in 2006, several state governments enacted various anti-trafficking bills. These states included Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, and Virginia. (43) But Washington State has been at the head of the "state anti-trafficking legislation initiative." (44) "Washington was the first state to pass anti-trafficking legislation, and its comprehensive [statute] has served as a model for other states adopting their own legislation." (45) Specific elements of Washington's anti-trafficking law will be discussed later in this Note, mainly the creation of a state task force, as proposals that New York should adopt to strengthen its own anti-trafficking legislation. (46)

   Even though legislation exists on the federal level to combat trafficking, it is imperative that states, especially those like New York who are known as "hub[s]" of trafficking...