Human trafficking, an immense problem, is becoming more so in Texas as the numbers of unaccompanied minors and single adults entering the country continue to rise.
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency reported that in the 2021 fiscal year through February, there have been 29,729 unaccompanied minors who have come to the U.S. In the previous fiscal year, there were 33,239 unaccompanied minors in total.
These children are vulnerable and can be targets for human trafficking, officials note.
"We are very concerned about the youth and children who are coming across the border," said Andrea Sparks, director of the Texas child sex trafficking team. "They are in a perfect storm of vulnerability."
The trafficking team was established in 2016, and works with a variety of nonprofits in counties across Texas to provide counseling and crisis intervention.
Under President Joe Biden, the border policies put in place by former President Donald Trump have been rescinded and the numbers of unaccompanied minors are expected to reach unprecedented levels, Lone Star Standard reports. The catch and release process, which was ended by the Trump administration, has begun again under the Biden administration. Some migrants reportedly are being released into the interior of the country without a notice to appear in immigration court.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls the growing number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the Texas border a humanitarian crisis.
“Americans need to know whether or not these children were harmed or abused in any way," Abbott said, as reported by the Texas Tribune. "They need to know if these children were assisted, coerced or threatened by cartel members or by human traffickers. All of this is vital information that can help America combat these human traffickers and prevent other children from being victimized."
Abbott has asked the federal government to give personnel from the Texas Department of Public Safety access to migrant children at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center so that minors can be interviewed and the authorities can try to identify human traffickers, the Texas Tribune reports.
Human trafficking is not a new problem. In 2019, acting chief border patrol agent Matthew Hudak told MyFoxZone.com that agents see human trafficking across the entire sector.
“It can be anybody," Hudak said. "We typically do see that probably more prevalent with young women and children, but it is something that can be across the board. Sex workers, indentured workers, things like that where they are not free to get out of that situation, they’re not free to leave.”
Human trafficking falls into three categories that the FBI can and does investigate: Labor trafficking; sex trafficking; and domestic servitude.
Last year there were 664 human trafficking cases opened that resulted in 473 arrests, said Britton Boyd, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI El Paso’s Criminal Branch, told KTSM.
A study by the University of Texas revealed that there are more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, including more than 75,000 minors and nearly 234,000 adult victims of labor trafficking. The study said traffickers exploit approximately $600 million per year from victims of labor trafficking in Texas in the most at-risk industries and economic sectors, which includes migrant work.
