The DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking Building Partnerships and Sharing Resources.

• Author: Morant, Cardell T.

Prosecuting trafficking crimes is some of the most rewarding work District Attorneys (DA) and investigators undertake. The relationship between DAs, federal agents, and local law enforcement partners is a crucial element in the successful investigation and prosecution of these crimes. To further develop those partnerships, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) was established in 2020 to advance counter human trafficking law enforcement operations, protect victims, and enhance prevention efforts by aligning DHS' capabilities and expertise. Led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Center better equips and positions DHS to accomplish and improve every aspect of its counter human trafficking mission while protecting victims and supporting investigations of trafficking organizations.

With dedicated human trafficking investigative groups within its domestic field offices, HSI participates in approximately 100 human trafficking task forces nationwide, consisting of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors' offices. Each year, HSI executes more than 1,000 human trafficking arrests, resulting in hundreds of convictions of sex and labor traffickers. In 2021, HSI identified more than 700 victims of trafficking, removing them from their traffickers and assisted them in receiving the resources they needed to start their recovery.

There are many tools that can be used to further a human trafficking investigation and prosecution, one such tool is Continued Presence (CP). CP is a temporary immigration designation provided to non-citizens identified by law enforcement as victims of a "severe form of trafficking in persons." This includes any individual who has been subjected to:

* Sex Trafficking - the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act is under the age of 18 years; or

* Labor Trafficking - the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.

CP allows victims to remain in the United States lawfully and temporarily during the investigation into...