From the desk of St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz
Human trafficking and smuggling are far apart but most people tend to believe that there is no difference.
Human trafficking can be either a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age. It can also be 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.
Trafficking is an exploitation-based offense against a person, and does not require movement across borders or any type of transportation.
Human smuggling on the other hand, is the importation of people into the United States involving the deliberate evasion of immigration laws. This offense includes bringing illegal aliens into the United States, as well as, the unlawful transportation and harboring of aliens already in the United States. Smuggling is a crime against the integrity of the United States’ borders. Smuggling requires movement within and around borders.
Smuggling and trafficking are not interchangeable terms. Smuggling is transportation-based and involves movement. Trafficking is exploitation-based.
The key distinction between smuggling and human trafficking is freedom of choice. Trafficking is involuntary. It involves forced exploitation of a person for labor or services. It does not require physical movement of person and may occur domestically. Human trafficking is a crime against the right of each person to be free from slavery or involuntary servitude. Many trafficking victims are U.S. citizens. Smuggling is voluntary. With smuggling, the individual typically contracts to be taken across the border and the arrangement ends after border crossing. Fees are usually paid in advance of arrival and it is always international in nature. Smuggling is a crime against the nation’s sovereignty.
So when does smuggling becomes trafficking? It is important to note that while traffickers maintain ongoing control over their victims, there are instances where a smuggled individual may become a trafficked victim. This occurs when the individual is smuggled and then held and forced into the labor or sex trade.
The smuggler may hold the person in debt or require them to work off a debt. The smuggler might also refuse to give the person credentials or release them to anyone else.
How do you spot victims of human trafficking? Victims may be physically isolated or guarded, while others are held through psychological coercion. Some victims are lured into slavery with the promise of a “better life,” and some are blatantly forced into submission to the trafficker. Others are stolen or kidnapped into slavery.
Many victims may not speak English or even know where they are in the United States. They may fear or distrust law enforcement and the government because of threats of abuse, imprisonment, or deportation. Although rarely the primary cause, poverty and inequality are important factors in making people more vulnerable to being trafficked.