Expert: Human trafficking, prostitution a universal problem

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — It’s a worldwide problem that officials in New Mexico think is now becoming a problem in this state — human trafficking.

On Friday, some 30 members of the Gallup Soroptimist Club attended a 2 1/2 hour program on the subject with Maria Sanchez Gagne, an assistant attorney general for the state and head of the Border Violence program, speaking on the subject.

Each year, an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 men and women — mostly, women — are forced to become slaves either for sex purposes or for labor in a movement that nets those involved billions of dollars. As many as half of those number may be under 18 years of age.

Because of the magnitude of the problem, 30 states have passed laws making human trafficking a state crime — it already is a federal one — and Gagne said efforts are now under way to get a similar bill before the state Legislature in this session.

One person in the audience, who works for the juvenile probation office, asked why the state needs to enact law and go through the expense of prosecuting these crimes when there are already laws on the books that would require the federal government to do the prosecution.

The federal government, Gagne explain, “would rather see the state handle these cases.”

“First of all,” she said, “the federal government doesn’t have the resources to handle these cases and have been asking the states for assistance. The state is also in a better position to enforce the law since local law enforcement agencies are more likely to see indicators that human trafficking is occurring.”

Which brings up the question — just how much of a problem is human trafficking in New Mexico and the Southwest?

Gagne said that’s hard to answer because local law enforcement officials don’t have the ability to investigate cases where women have been brought over to this country from Mexico, Russia, China, or other countries and forced to become prostitutes or to work as nannies or as field workers for little pay.

And while there have been cases prosecuted by the federal government in other states, there has not been one in New Mexico “for quite a while.”

Despite this, Gagne feels that there is a need for state laws because a recent survey of law enforcement officers in the state have said there have been indications in their investigations of various crimes that human trafficking may be a problem in the southern part of the state. Gagne also said there are indicators there are problems in the northern portion of the state as well.

It’s known, according to printed material on the human trafficking problem, that many of the victims of human trafficking are being smuggled across the border into Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. And while many of these victims find themselves in the big cities — Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago — working in brothels or for escort services, Gagne said some find themselves living and working in New Mexico.

In Gallup, arrests for prostitution are very rare, and when they occur, it’s usually connected with activities at one of the truck stops.

Gagne said one of the major problems in detecting whether human trafficking is occurring is that the victims are afraid to come forward, either because they come from a country where law enforcement officers cannot be trusted or because they are afraid that if they come forward, they will be deported and will have to go back to their home country with the stigma of being a prostitute on their reputation.

One of the things the state law will do, she said, is provide some help to the victims, including a guarantee that they would be allowed to stay in this country while the case is pending. She said that it’s also possible that the victim would be allowed to stay in this country after the trial as well.

The state attorney general’s office is asking for money to be appropriated to be used to house the victims and provide them with funds for food and basic needs during the time the case is being adjudicated.