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Sean D. Reyes
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Labor Trafficking in America

When most Americans hear the word trafficking, often what comes to mind are sex slaves in foreign countries. Many forget that the U.S. is home to multiple operations of human trafficking in a variety of forms. One form of trafficking that is commonly overlooked? Labor trafficking.

According to The Polaris Project, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking, nearly 30,000 cases of labor trafficking have been discovered in the United States since 2007. As more and more people come to the U.S. looking for better opportunities or were lured here by grandiose properties, the rise of trafficked undocumented workers grow. It is our responsibility as citizens to educate ourselves and learn to recognize potential trafficking operations. 

You can learn more about the labor trafficking in the U.S. here: https://polarisproject.org/blog/2015/12/29/labor-trafficking-land-opportunity.

Frontline, the investigative journalism series of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), produced an in-depth documentary of how something as horrifying as this can happen in our own backyards. 

To watch the Frontline coverage and learn more about what labor trafficking looks like, click the picture below. 

 

 

If you or anyone you know are concerned about or suspect the possibility of trafficking happening, please call our Utah Trafficking in Persons tip line: 801-200-3443.