A statewide operation last week aimed at reducing human trafficking resulted in 510 arrests and more than 50 adult and juvenile women having been saved, authorities said Tuesday.

“‘Operation Reclaim and Rebuild’ was a three-day assault on one of the most heinous crimes of modern times: The sexual exploitation of another human being for profit,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell.

McDonnell’s comments were made at a news conference on Tuesday in downtown L.A. as he was joined by L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Kay Buck, CEO of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking and others.

The fourth annual “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild” operation took place between Thursday and Saturday with more than 80 participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and task forces, authorities said.

It was held in conjunction with Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

At Tuesday’s news conference, McDonnell said of the 510 arrests there were 30 suspected traffickers and 178 “Johns” apprehended. The more than 50 saved from sex trafficking included 45 adults and 11 juveniles, he added.

“The results of our 2018 operation speak volumes about that crime,” McDonnell said.

Buck, of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, described the partnership with the L.A. Regional Human Trafficking Task Force as “crucial.”

“Victims are taught to distrust by all the lies that traffickers tell them about law enforcement and about their own value as human beings,” Buck said. “This task force provides for that window of opportunity to start to trust again.”

Additionally, Buck said, C.A.S.T. spearheaded a first-of-its-kind data collection effort during the operation and 18 agencies statewide provided information.

Buck said 101 survivors and young women at risk were provided with basic necessities, food and clothing.

“Something that their traffickers made sure that they never had before,” Buck said. “They slept in a warm bed and safe bed supported by expert shelter staff: not under the watch of the trafficker.”

L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey said her office has advocates for victims while prosecutors continue their work to secure long sentences and convictions “for those who force young girls and women and boys into prostitution.”

Typically, victims of sex trafficking are around the age of 15 or 16, said Lt. Kent Wegener, of the L.A. County sheriff’s Human Trafficking Bureau.

“They come from broken homes,” Wegener said. “Often times, they’re put into foster care or have probation violations. Pimps know who to look for. They know who is able to be exploited. They know who is easy to manipulate. They know who is looking for love and acceptance because they never got it in life.”

The human trafficking bureau monitors the streets and the internet, where decoy ads are placed online or decoy users are on Instagram and Facebook looking “vulnerable,” Wegener said.

“Believe me, the pimps and the exploiters are on the internet and they’re looking for girls that fit that characteristic,” Wegener said. “If they look like they’re upset with their parents, if they look like they want to branch out with the bad boy, those are the ones they target,” he said.

If these online pimps end up talking to the decoys and recruiting them into sex trafficking, Wegener said, “that’s when we meet and we introduce them to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.”

Read the full article on Los Angeles Daily News >

The following is a statement from Kay Buck, CEO of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST):

There are currently more slaves alive than at any other point in history—over 27 million across the world. At the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), we spend each day providing lifesaving services to survivors, as well as a platform to empower them to overcome the exploitation they endured and become leading voices in shaping policy and public awareness around trafficking.
Annually, the State Department releases a report that takes a close look at how the United States and countries around the world are dealing with the gravity of the epidemic of Trafficking in Persons (TIP). While we are proud to see nations taking important steps to combat this issue, we are saddened to see the results of any country slipping in their standing. As a global community we must work together to end the fastest growing criminal enterprise of the 21st Century.

The theme of this year’s trafficking in persons report is to focus on responsibilities of governments to criminalize human trafficking and hold offenders accountable.

Although CAST applauds the idea of seeking justice for victims and accountability for traffickers, highlighted in Secretary Tillerson’s message, the world can not prosecute enough cases to end modern slavery. CAST urges this administration to place more weight and thought on the diverse forms of justice that victims need as well as on prevention of this crime in the United States and abroad.

Looking carefully at the US government’s report on its own activities to combat trafficking in the US – CAST appreciates the report’s highlight of the fact that many trafficking victims are still arrested and criminalized for crimes their traffickers force them to commit in the United States, and urges the states and the US government to do more in this area. CAST often times have clients who come to us with 20-40 arrest and convictions—despite the fact they were victims.

CAST also applauds the report highlights of the need for a federal vactur bill which has been a policy priority of the National Survivor Network since 2015. Although this bill was introduced again in January of 2017, this important measure has been stalled in both the House and Senate. In highlighting this need the report does a good job of prioritizing the voices of survivors and the policies they seem as most important in the United States.

CAST is disappointed once again to see the disparate balance between prosecution of sex and labor trafficking cases—with only 13 labor trafficking cases being prosecuted in the whole United States. 50% of CAST’s case load is consistently labor cases and 50% are sex trafficked. We believe more must be done by law enforcement and other government agencies to address all forms of trafficking.

Finally, CAST knows based on first-hand experience serving both US citizens and Foreign national victims that both populations are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation in the United States, and was disappointed to see that the monies spent by DOJ served US citizen victims disproportionally with 66% of clients being served during the reporting period were US citizen and LPRs and only 34% being foreign nationals.

The White House’s commitment to fight human trafficking is critical to the success of anti-trafficking efforts across the world. We appreciate the Secretary’s acknowledgement of the magnitude of this epidemic and the White House’s long-standing promise to combat human trafficking. We urge our leadership to remain in-line with the statements of support and commitment made today and keep the survivors we serve in mind when they make serious policy and funding decisions that will impact our ability to help those in need. We are confident that through a shared commitment to this issue, and a strong partnership that allows for dialogue between this administration and organizations like CAST, we can be an impactful resource to help shape any policy and continue to make the United States a leader in the fight against human trafficking.

Each year, the TIP Report helps us grade and assess the work being done in this space across the globe and here in the United States. While this is both an important benchmark to ensure we are all held accountable and a significant moment to bring international spotlight to trafficking, we urge both the public and the government to remember that what we are discussing is more than a grade or classification, but years and lives lost each year to human slavery. At CAST, we remain steadfastly committed to working each day to protect victims of trafficking.

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ABOUT CAST: Led by CEO Kay Buck, CAST is a Los Angeles–based nonprofit and is one of the pioneers of the US anti-trafficking movement. CAST provides life-saving services to survivors of human trafficking and mobilizes citizens to build a future where modern slavery no longer plagues our communities, our city or our world. Through partnerships with over 100 cultural and faith-based community groups, healthcare organizations, government agencies and law enforcement, CAST provides support at every phase of a human trafficking survivor’s journey to freedom. In April 2014, CAST’s excellent work was honored by President Obama with the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. CAST was the first NGO to receive this award.

The Assembly included a $10 million continuing request from the general fund in their budget for specialized services for trafficking victims. The Senate did not. This means we will go to Conference.

We are asking for two things to support the $10 million budget item getting out of conference:

(1) By COB Wednesday 5/31/17 please email stephanie@castla.org a new letter of support for the Conference process.

Sample letter of support click here

(2) Please make calls to the appointed Conference members listed below by COB June 1st asking them to support the $10 million in funding for specialized services for human trafficking victims.

Script: Hello, my name is ______________ and I’m calling on behalf of __Org. name if any. I’m calling to urge Assembly member /Senator____________ to support the $10 million in specialized funding for services for human trafficking victims in the California budget. Resources for human trafficking victims in California are scarce and this funding will help 21 organizations provide much-needed services to victims. Thank you!
.

• Assembly member Philip Ting- (916) 319-2019
• Assembly member Phillip Chen- (916) 319-2055
• Assembly member Kevin McCarty- (916) 319-2007
• Assembly member Jay Olbernote- (916) 319-2033
• Assembly member Shirley Weber- (916) 319-2079
• Senator Mitchell -(916) 651-4030
• Senator Roth-(916) 651-4031
• Senator Nielsen-916) 651-4004
• Senator Moorlach- (916) 651-4037

In this call you can also highlight this CALOES data if you wish:

As a highlight the first year of the grant served 2521 victims. Other statistics include:

• Number of Human Trafficking victims with disabilities – 219
• Number of transitional aged youth (ages 18-24) Human Trafficking victims served – 1,046
• Number of minor (ages 0-17) Human Trafficking victims served – 779
• Total number of services provided (victims may receive multiple services, including of the same type): 39,776

Full CALOES data click here

Additional Materials on Budget Request:

$ 15 million request for specialized services and training and technical assistance for victims of human trafficking in CA. Funds for a prevalence study and funds to evaluate and model best practices in serving this population.

Factsheet on request click here
Survey on Impact click here

“‘Under current regulatory guidance, very few human trafficking victims in California are able to recover lost income through the state’s Victim Compensation Program, despite suffering economic loss due to the crimes committed against them. This legislation would ensure our systems are appropriately recognizing the unique form of commercial exploitation trafficking victims face and is essential in helping them rebuild their lives,’ said Stephanie Richard, Policy & Legal Services Director for the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Tracking (CAST), the lead organizational sponsor of the bill.”

READ THE FULL STORY

LOS ANGELES (February 16, 2017) Bet Tzedek, one of the nation’s premiere public interest law firms, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), one of the nation’s premiere legal and social service providers for survivors of modern day slavery, and California State Controller Betty Yee are proud to collaborate on legislation that will clarify existing California law to ensure that  human trafficking survivors can receive compensation from the California Victims Compensation Program (VCP) for the value of the labor or services victims were forced to provide on behalf of their traffickers. Assemblywomen Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) introduced the legislation today in the California State Assembly as AB 900.

While existing California laws allows the VCP to compensate human trafficking survivors for such things as mental health support, as well as medical and relocation expenses, and while the VCP is currently statutorily allowed to compensate victims for income lost as direct result of the crime, to date no trafficking survivors have been able to recover for the income they have lost during their trafficking experience. Given the unique nature of trafficking crimes, survivors are not able to provide the sort of documentation requested by the VCP to recover compensation for lost income. Current VCP rules require formal evidence of employment – e.g., documentation from the Tax Board, workers’ compensation carriers, or employers (the traffickers themselves) – that are impossible to satisfy in nearly every human trafficking case. Requiring survivors who were exploited as modern-day slaves to provide this type of evidence effectively precludes them from obtaining lost income compensation. AB 900 amends the law to expressly state that the VCP may compensate human trafficking survivors for income loss suffered for the period of time that the survivors were forced to labor with little or no pay. The bill also would ensure that human trafficking survivors can rely on evidence other than official employment documentation to support their applications for lost income compensation.

According to Matthew DeCarolis, staff attorney at Bet Tzedek, “The bill will ensure that survivors are compensated for their servitude. We are proud that California continues to be at the forefront of providing assistance and support to survivors of human trafficking.”

“Under current regulatory guidance, human trafficking victims in California are not able to recover lost income through the state’s Victim Compensation Program, despite suffering economic loss due to the crimes committed against them. This legislation would ensure our systems are appropriately recognizing the unique form of commercial exploitation trafficking victims face and is essential in helping them rebuild their lives,” stated Stephanie Richard, Policy & Legal Services Director, CAST.

Voices of Survivors

“When I eventually escaped, I had no money to my name. I escaped with nothing but the clothes on my body. I had no papers or records that would have shown how much and for how long my trafficker forced me to work with him without pay … I know that some organizations will provide some of the basic needs for survivors, but receiving lost wages from the Board would help survivors [like me] to provide for their loved ones and cover personal and basic needs like educational classes, to become a self-sufficient individual that can be restored and reintegrated to society in a positive way.”

– Rafael Bautista

“When I was 18 years old I was targeted by traffickers for the life of prostitution. There were no records of the number of dates or days or weeks that I was forced to work. I only knew all of the information because I was told to make a quota and I knew that I worked every night. When I escaped trafficking I had no income or close family. If I was able to get lost wages compensation after escaping trafficking, I would have been able to start the process of rebuilding my life much sooner. I support fixing the regulations so other victims of human trafficking can receive this important compensation.”

– Annika Mack

“There were no documents that could have proven to other people the details of what was done to me during the time I was trafficked. No one was recording how long I worked every day or how much money my trafficker made off of me. All I had was my memory and my word, but I knew these details vividly. This lost income money could help human trafficking survivors with the support they need after their victimization. Recovery has no time limit.”

– Monica Anderson

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About CAST

CAST provides life-saving services to survivors of human trafficking and mobilizes citizens to build a future where modern slavery no longer plagues our communities, our city or our world. Through partnerships with healthcare organizations, government benefits agencies, law enforcement and faith-based and cultural community groups, CAST is able to provide support at every phase of a human trafficking survivor’s journey to freedom.

About Bet Tzedek

Founded in 1974, Bet Tzedek pursues equal justice for all by providing high-quality, free legal services to low-income people of all racial and religious backgrounds, with a particular focus on seniors and people with disabilities. One of the nation’s premier public interest law firms, Bet Tzedek uses direct legal service, impact litigation, community outreach, and legislative advocacy in the areas of consumer rights, employment rights, elder justice/caregiver law, Holocaust reparations, housing, human trafficking, public benefits and real estate to serve more than 20,000 people every year.

(Sacramento) – In the wake of a majorhuman trafficking sweep in Los Angeles yielding474 arrests and identifying at least 55 survivors, State Senator Henry Stern introduced legislation supported by a coalition of human trafficking groups, to expand access to hotline services.

Backed by the National Council of Jewish Women CA,the California National Organization for Women, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), and Hadassah, Senate Bill 225 would add hotels and motels to the list of businesses currently required to post a notice informing the public and victims of human trafficking of hotline numbers they can use to seek help or report unlawful activity. SB 225 also informs the public that they can text the hotline in addition to calling.

“California, and Los Angeles in particular, are on the front lines of the fight against human slavery and trafficking. Thousands suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for help.” remarked Senator Stern. “SB 225 will bring us to parity with states like Illinois and Louisiana where hotels and motels have joined the fight.”

National studies show that trafficking hotlines save lives. ANortheastern University report recently published by the National Institute of Justice found that of all trafficking prevention strategies, the most important provision to increasing arrests was requiring the National hotline number to be posted in public places. Each year, the National Human Trafficking Hotline yields thousands of cases (7,572 cases in 2016 alone) with usage going up consistently each year. California’s diverse and dense population make it especially difficult to identify survivors and bring traffickers to justice.

The signs of trafficking can be difficult to spot and potential witnesses are often hesitant to speak out; traffickers rely on this and employ various means to terrify and manipulate victims against seeking help. In 2013, California enacted one of the first laws (SB 1193) to require certain businesses to publicly post state and national human trafficking hotline numbers for victims and witnesses to call for help. The law targeted some of the most common venues where trafficking occurs: massage parlors, places of transit, etc; but did not include hotels, one of the major venues human traffickers use to exploit their victims.

“CAST strongly supports the updates SB 225 provides to the hotline posting requirement. Our research has shown that Hotline posting is tied to increased investigation and prosecution of human trafficking crimes. Survivors served by CAST have also voiced that access to information through a hotline posting could have made all the difference in finding freedom from their traffickers.” said Kay Buck, CEO and Executive Director of Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), Los Angeles.

SB 225 was introduced February 2, 2017 and awaits its first committee hearing.

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Contact: Morgan.Culbertson@sen.ca.gov (805) 822-9694

As you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed tomorrow, you’re probably going to run into a lot of red Xs on hands, t-shirts, and even celebrities.

These Xs are all in support of Shine A Light On Slavery Day, an effort to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking by the END IT Movement.

The day highlights how big of an issue slavery still is.

While the number of persons in slavery is uncertain, it’s estimated that anywhere from twenty to forty six million victims worldwide are affected.

Modern forms of slavery and human trafficking include child labor, sexual slavery, forced marriage, and domestic servitude, making the problem difficult to detect and prosecute because many of the practices (service work, agricultural work, cleaning services, etc.) are technically legal. This makes it harder to raise awareness and point out the problem since it can occur so openly, masked as legitimate employment.

Many are fighting back against modern slavery beyond Shine A Light On Slavery Day, from politicians to celebrities alike.

Former Secretary Of State John Kerry was very vocal on the matter while in the Obama administration, helping to close an 85 year old trade loophole that allowed for goods made by the result of slave labor to be sold in America.

Last week, Ashton Kutcher made headlines by testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the threat of sex trafficking and modern slavery. He wore an END IT red X pin, too.

One of the biggest efforts was the End Modern Slavery Act co-sponsored by Republican senator Bob Corker of Tennessee who works with END IT. The measure was passed late last year, to acclaim of activists who work to abolish modern forms of forced labor.

Stephanie Richard, Policy & Legal Services Director of the Coalition To Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, (CAST) finds the initiative to be vital. “I really believe that one of the reasons why we have not gone as far as we could in ending modern slavery in our lifetime, in this generation, is because the U.S. government hasn’t put the resources for this issue,” she explained to ATTN: by phone. “This bill really is a creative approach to ensuring public and private partnership.”

“It really looks at both sex and labor trafficking and funding to combat the issue of human trafficking. It’s not focused on one population of this at a global perspective, which I think is really important for the U.S. to be leaders in both combating sex trafficking and labor trafficking.”

Richard noted that End Modern Slavery’s board includes a sex-trafficking survivor, which is incredibly helpful in facing the immensely complex world of modern sex trafficking.

“I always like to tell people that there are no simple solutions for ending modern day slavery, whether it be here in the U.S. or abroad. We do have to take a careful, measured approach where we are expending new and pretty hefty resources to truly combat and prevent this issue from happening,” she said.

A human trafficking operation carried out by authorities throughout the state of California resulted in a total of 474 arrests and the rescue of 28 children and 27 adults.

Operation Reclaim and Rebuild has been going on for three years, though this is the first year it has gone on state-wide, reports Fox 5. Stings were carried out from Thursday to Saturday, and combined the forces of over 30 different federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, according to a release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Operation Reclaim and Rebuild works in multiple ways, but starts by targeting customers via stings conducted both on the streets and online. Some “specially-trained cyber detectives” worked by pretending to be teenage girls on the Internet and arranged meetings with potential pimps or customers. Of the over 400 arrests, 142 men were arrested on suspicion of solicitation, 238 people were arrested on suspicion of prostitution, and another 36 men were arrested on charges of pimping. In Delano, four women were arrested at a massage parlor after allegedly telling authorities they were not being trafficked, and were operating independently.

San Diego County Chief Deputy D.A. Summer Stephan said via a statement, “If you think you’re not being watched, you are. If you think you’re operating in the darkness, you’re not. If you think you won’t be caught and held accountable for your role in promoting sex trafficking, think again.”

In the event that a victim was located, children were taken into the care of the Department of Children and Family Services in each county, while adults were connected with agencies including the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) and Saving Innocence. These agencies are provide resources to trafficking victims. CAST, headquartered in Los Angeles, was formed in 1998 in response to an El Monte sweatshop that forced over 70 Thai immigrants to work in slavery and debt bondage for eight years. The agency works to provide victims with health and mental health care, as well as legal services.

According to the LAPD, a county-wide operation in January of 2016 resulted in 198 arrests, including that of six alleged pimps, and the rescue of 12 minors and six adults.

SAN FRANCISCO — After receiving a call from the national Human Trafficking Hotline, police in Los Angeles converged on an apartment home in Los Angeles earlier this month, and rescued a 29-year-old Filipina national who claimed she was being held against her will to work for a Filipino family.

Lynne Bergado, 29, an OFW was taken from an apartment building she’s lived and worked from for the last two years. She has been relocated to safe shelter in Southern California.

Bergado had been living in the four-unit apartment building in Los Angeles that served as the residence and business site of Marlon and Nelle-Ann Velonza, who operated the Philippine-based business, Etta’s USA, which sold skin whitening and bleaching products.

Bergado claims she had been working 12 hours a day and paid less than $350 a month since her arrival in April 2014. She says she was subjected to forced confinement, verbal threats and other treatment of servitude and forced labor.Bergado initially came to America as the caretaker of Marlon Velonza’s mother, Felisa aka Etta. But when Felisa returned to the Philippines in 2015, Bergado stayed to work for the Velonzas doing house chores and sales fulfillment.

Lapsed visa

In the meantime, the visa of Bergado lapsed in 2015, which gave the Velonzas power over her.

“I am scared of my employer,” Bergado told me in an interview. “They hold all my stuff,” she said referring to her Philippine passport and her phone, which was often disabled from receiving or making calls, or simply taken away from her.

“They said don’t talk to other people, do not show your face,” Bergado told me. “I’m like in jail. I stay alone in the house… I feel like I’m in a prison… I’m always crying.”

In addition, Bergado was told to lie about her name and deny she was staying there. She was anxious and felt her every move was watched.

The Velonzas have not been charged, but the case remains under investigation.

When reached for comment, Nelle-Ann Velonza denied Bergado’s claim of being held against her will.

“She’s a born liar,” Velonza told me emphatically. She said Bergado was treated like a family member. “She called me Ate,” she said.

Velonza confirmed that the Los Angeles Police came to the house and took Bergado away. She also said she told police that they would return Bergado’s passport and any money owed her.

Bergado was paid under her original agreement 17,000 pesos, and not dollars, equal to about $350 dollars a month. Part of her pay, an estimated 10,000 pesos was given to Bergado’s family in the Philippines each month, with the rest held back but allegedly never paid to Bergado.

Paid in pesos

The amount of back pay may be much more significant if there is a finding that Bergado, who was paid in pesos in the U.S., was underpaid.

Bergado told me she worked seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day. She originally worked at the Etta’s cosmetic factory in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines. But when Etta hired her to be a caretaker, she saw coming to America as an opportunity to send money back to the Philippines to help her own mother and two young daughters.

When I asked Velonza about that, she said there was no written work agreement, and characterized Bergado another way.

“She’s like a distant relative,” Velonza told me. “She’s helping. She wasn’t being abused. I buy everything for her.”

Velonza said she even provided dental care for Bergado and tried to help her pay for it by letting Bergado work off the dental bill.

Coincidentally, Velonza said she and her husband were in the process of buying a ticket for Bergado to return to the Philippines. But then the police were called.

“She must not want to go home,” Velonza said. “She was free to leave.”

But the activists who helped Bergado say she was only free once she was placed in a safe haven.

T-Visa application

Sources in the anti-trafficking hotline tell me that she has since applied for a T-Visa, which allows for victims of human trafficking to stay in the U.S. for a period before repatriating or applying for permanent residency.

Bergado, who has relied on the help of anti-human trafficking activists throughout the world, came to the attention of a whistleblower, who called the national Human Trafficking Hotline.

Once called in, cases like Bergado’s are often referred to local agencies like the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, or CAST.

Angelina Bradley, managing Attorney for CAST-LA, would not confirm nor deny whether Bergado is her client.

Bradley said she has 300 open cases, most involving minors and sex trafficking, and called her case load “just the tip of the iceberg.”

She said labor trafficking cases are often harder to prosecute, yet continue to happen “under our noses.”

As a Filipina American, Bradley, said hearing of a case like Bergado’s hurts her.

“I trust another Filipino to take care of me,” Bradley told me. “To see there can be exploitation in the community is a special kind of heartache.”

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator who writes from Northern California.
Contact him: http://www.twitter.com/emilamok