An Eye Opening Story
Every day at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), we are fighting a fight you rarely hear about in the media - the battle against human trafficking. ICE is taking an aggressive approach to dismantle the global infrastructure of people, money and materials that supports this heinous crime. I want to take this opportunity to share with you a story about a recent ICE human trafficking investigation.
Picture this: May 12, 2007. A rainy midnight in an affluent Long Island neighborhood where the average home cost around $1.5 million. A woman in her fifties – I’ll call her “Jane” – wearing ripped sweat pants and rags she’d sewn together into a shirt wandered the neighborhood looking for help. At first, Jane thought she’d go to a nearby home, but ended up abandoning that plan and even hid in the bushes every time a car passed, having never been out of the house before and unsure of whom she could trust.
Miraculously, Jane found her way to small shopping center with a donut shop - one of the only businesses open at that very early hour - more than a mile away. Again, fearful, she did not go in. But an alert employee spotted Jane and, despite the fact that he did not speak her Indonesian language, convinced her to come inside.
He and his manager sheltered and fed Jane until the manager’s mother, a nurse, arrived. Jane motioned and gestured that she’d been abused. And the nurse observed severe injuries behind her ears – as if someone had tried to cut them off – and dozens of scars and other marks covering her arms. Ultimately, the three called local police for help.
Nassau County Police Department officers arrived, as did a specially trained detective who is part of the local Human Trafficking Task Force. Jane was taken to the hospital and local officers contacted ICE.
The five-month ICE investigation that followed culminated on December 17 when a wealthy Long Island couple was convicted by jury trial on a twelve count federal indictment that included forced labor, peonage, document servitude, harboring aliens and conspiracy for holding Jane and another Indonesian woman captive. The couple is set to be sentenced on March 28, 2008, and each faces up to 40 years for their roles in this scheme.
These women were rescued, and the perpetrators brought to justice, because each of the individuals involved took action. Like many things in law enforcement, the badge-carriers can’t always do the job alone.
For years, a number of non-governmental organizations have assisted us in our cause – both through public outreach and by providing victim services. And now we’re augmenting their efforts by reaching out directly to the public with a new ICE Public Service Announcement. Our message is simple: A human trafficking victim can be anyone. If you see them, report it to ICE at 1-866-347-2423.
The sad reality is that trafficking victims remain anonymous as long as they are ignored. They hide in plain sight. We all must work together to shine a light on this problem and get the victims to the help they deserve.
Julie L. Myers
Assistant Secretary
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Picture this: May 12, 2007. A rainy midnight in an affluent Long Island neighborhood where the average home cost around $1.5 million. A woman in her fifties – I’ll call her “Jane” – wearing ripped sweat pants and rags she’d sewn together into a shirt wandered the neighborhood looking for help. At first, Jane thought she’d go to a nearby home, but ended up abandoning that plan and even hid in the bushes every time a car passed, having never been out of the house before and unsure of whom she could trust.
Miraculously, Jane found her way to small shopping center with a donut shop - one of the only businesses open at that very early hour - more than a mile away. Again, fearful, she did not go in. But an alert employee spotted Jane and, despite the fact that he did not speak her Indonesian language, convinced her to come inside.
He and his manager sheltered and fed Jane until the manager’s mother, a nurse, arrived. Jane motioned and gestured that she’d been abused. And the nurse observed severe injuries behind her ears – as if someone had tried to cut them off – and dozens of scars and other marks covering her arms. Ultimately, the three called local police for help.
Nassau County Police Department officers arrived, as did a specially trained detective who is part of the local Human Trafficking Task Force. Jane was taken to the hospital and local officers contacted ICE.
The five-month ICE investigation that followed culminated on December 17 when a wealthy Long Island couple was convicted by jury trial on a twelve count federal indictment that included forced labor, peonage, document servitude, harboring aliens and conspiracy for holding Jane and another Indonesian woman captive. The couple is set to be sentenced on March 28, 2008, and each faces up to 40 years for their roles in this scheme.
These women were rescued, and the perpetrators brought to justice, because each of the individuals involved took action. Like many things in law enforcement, the badge-carriers can’t always do the job alone.
For years, a number of non-governmental organizations have assisted us in our cause – both through public outreach and by providing victim services. And now we’re augmenting their efforts by reaching out directly to the public with a new ICE Public Service Announcement. Our message is simple: A human trafficking victim can be anyone. If you see them, report it to ICE at 1-866-347-2423.
The sad reality is that trafficking victims remain anonymous as long as they are ignored. They hide in plain sight. We all must work together to shine a light on this problem and get the victims to the help they deserve.
Julie L. Myers
Assistant Secretary
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Labels: human trafficking, ICE
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