Abstract
Human trafficking refers to the illegal smuggling of people into a country for forced labor and other forms of exploitation. This also involves falsely recruiting, transferring, harboring, and exploiting people in a foreign land without their consent or for activities they did not sign up to undertake. Victims of human trafficking often experience many problems once they arrive in the United States because they do not have the right documentation. Challenges faced by people that are trafficked into the country include poor living conditions, constant threats by employers, bad eating habits, and withholding of wages among others. One of the factors that have made it hard for the government to address the challenge of human trafficking effectively has been a lack of adequate regulations on the recruitment of foreign labor. Human trafficking is a very torturous experience that leaves the victims with scars that can have lifelong negative effects. This mostly affects children and women who are more vulnerable to the effects of poor living conditions and lack of good medical service. The federal government can come up with programs to empower foreigners seeking to work and live in the United States to help them gain legal status and live their lives to full potential.
Introduction
Over the years, human trafficking in the United States has been ranked as one of the major challenges facing the federal government. According to the immigration department, thousands of workers are trafficked into the country every year, where they work on very little wages while others are forced into modern-day slavery (Shelley, 2010). Notably, most of the trafficked people work in the service industry, which many consider having fewer qualification needs and lacks a solid wage structure. Even though there is federal legislation on minimum wage, most of these individuals are very vulnerable to extremely low wages because they are in the country illegally, thus cannot demand their rights over the risk of being identified and deported. Some of the other challenges faced by people that are trafficked into the country include poor living conditions, constant threats by employers, bad eating habits, and withholding of wages among others (Farrell, 2011). Studies have established that the good life enjoyed by most of the people living in the United States is closely tied to the lucrative and illegal business of human trafficking, which has been blamed for promoting modern slavery. Due to the high cost of operations, many business owners in the service industry rely a lot on the cheap labor provided by trafficked individuals to keep their businesses afloat (Shelley, 2010). Most of these people come from Asia, Africa, South America, and parts of Europe. One of the major factors that have contributed to the development of this unethical business has been weak and poorly implemented border regulations (Farrell, 2011).
Discussion
Research has established that the supply chain of restaurants, electronics shops, food stores, salons, and jewelry shops are mainly serviced by trafficked labor. These individuals are often lured by the unethical recruiter through promises of stable and well-remunerated jobs in the country (Belles, 2011). Unknown to them, the individuals moved into the country illegally, are put under huge debts, denied legal documentation, and limited opportunities for learning the English language as a way of limiting the power to fight for their rights (Shelley, 2010). According to the Philippine government, several of its citizens have been lured into the United States by the traffickers with huge promises, only to leave their family members in dismay. There are numerous stories of jobless graduates from the Philippines, who take up loans or sell their family assets in a bid to raise the fees asked by the recruiting agencies for visa processing. Once they arrive in the United States, the conditions that welcome them are often the complete opposite of the things they were promised. The jobs they also get do not match the standards and wages promised during the recruitment process (Belles, 2011). In some cases, young women and girls are trafficked into the country to work as sex workers in brothels. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, more than 200,000 women are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation within the country every year. These young women and girls are forcefully introduced to prostitution and sex slavery by the traffickers who bring them into the country with the usual promises of good jobs in the hotel industry. Reports indicate that the traffickers also target cheap labor for the agriculture industry, while young men are recruited into the business of drug trafficking and petty crimes (Murphy-Aguilar, 2016).
According to federal reports, one of the factors that have made it hard for the government to address the challenge of human trafficking effectively has been the lack of adequate regulations on recruitment of foreign labor. The closest that the federal government has come in the recent past about solving this problem was the Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act that was put before the congress but could not be passed into law (Belles, 2011). The proposed legislation aimed to bridge the gap between how foreign labor is recruited and managed within the country. It was meant to deter forced labor, ensuring transparency and accountability about foreign labor, as well as ensuring that the right information is provided during the recruitment process. Also, all recruiting agencies would be required to register with the department of labor as a way of monitoring their activities and providing a good basis for addressing any complaints lodged against them by their clients (Murphy-Aguilar, 2016). Studies have established that there is an urgent need for the federal government to come up with strong legislation that will address the problem and provide a platform for past victims to get justice for the suffering they went through. According to psychologists, human trafficking is a very torturous experience that leaves the victims with scars that can have lifelong negative effects. Therefore, the relevant authorities need to develop effective mechanisms of helping individuals that are trafficked into sex slavery and labor exploitation to rebuild their lives (Farrell, 2011).
With effective regulatory measures, human trafficking in the United States can become solved completely. The regulatory measures should put into consideration the importance of foreign labor to the growth of the economy (Chisolm-Straker and Stoklosa, 2017). This means that the federal government can create a more conducive environment for foreigners to get well-paying jobs in the country without finding the need to engage in recruiting agencies. This feat can be achieved through improved processing of visas in terms of the documents required. This will play a crucial role in preventing foreigners from wanting to come to the United States taking short and extremely expensive options. Studies have also established that the federal government can come up with programs to empower foreigners seeking to work and live in the United States to help them gain legal status and live their lives to full potential (Burke, 2013). This can include elements such as capacity building, job training, counseling, medical care, and language skills among others. The importance of such programs is ensuring that foreigners can enjoy high standards of living even when their services are in low demand (Murphy-Aguilar, 2016). For example, the demand for workers in the hospitality industry is dependent on the number of visitors, thus the need to ensure that individuals working in the industry have other skills that help them continue earning a living.
Conclusion
Even though the United States has been struggling with the challenge of human trafficking over the years, reports of the United Nations indicate the federal government has made great efforts towards addressing it. However, achieving this feat requires more than just having anti-human trafficking laws. The whole process requires effective implementation and enforcement of the laws characterized by good cooperation between the relevant authorities. It is also important for Congress to come up with legislation to secure the country’s borders. Immigration laws should also be revised as a way of encouraging those already in the country illegally to register and enjoy some of the benefits provided by the federal government.
References
Belles, N. (2011). In Our Backyard: A Christian Perspective on Human Trafficking in the United States. New York, NY: Xulon Press.
Burke, M.C. (2013). Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge.
Chisolm-Straker, M., and Stoklosa, H. (2017). Human Trafficking is a Public Health Issue: A Paradigm Expansion in the United States. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing.
Farrell, C. (2011). Human Trafficking. New York, NY: ABDO.
Murphy-Aguilar, M. (2016). Borderline Slavery: Mexico, United States, and the Human Trade. New York, NY: Routledge.
Shelley, L. (2010). Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. Los Angels, CA: Cambridge University Press.