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S&I: LABOR TRAFFICKING: WHAT NEW YORK JUDGES NEED TO KNOW WB/KZ JUNE 13, 2014
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
JUDICIALȱCOLLEGE
SPONSORED BY THE STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTE
LABOR TRAFFICKING: WHAT NEW YORK JUDGES NEED TO KNOW Professor Terry Coonan OBJECTIVES: As part of a collaboration with the Center for Public Policy Studies and the Center for Court Innovation, this program is presented by the National Judicial College and sponsored by the State Justice Institute. After this session, you will be able to:
1. Describe how the Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000 and New York law have changed previous definitions of slavery;
2. Define how force, fraud, and coercion are employed against victims in modern labor trafficking cases;
3. Identify how labor trafficking is typically manifested in the U.S. economy and in New York; and
4. Summarize how federal and New York law address the issue of labor trafficking.
REQUIRED READING: PAGETerry Coonan and William Brunson, Labor Trafficking: What New York Judges Need to Know (July 2014) [NJC PowerPoint] .....................................................................1
Labor Trafficking: What New York Judges
Need to KnowPresented By:
Professor Terry CoonanFlorida State University
¾ Forms of modern-day slavery that involve the exploitation of persons for commercial sex or forced labor
¾ Often involves crossing an international border but does not require movement
¾ Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control their victims
What Is Human Trafficking?
¾ Approximately 27 million people held in slavery worldwide
¾ Estimated 500,000 to 2 million people trafficked worldwide annually
¾ Estimated 15,000 to 18,000 trafficked annually into the United States
A Human Rights Crisis
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International trends since late 1980s led to the rapid growth of trafficking:
¾ Increased ability by people to cross borders
¾ Increased poverty worldwide
¾ Result: desperately poor people immigrate to seek work
A Global Phenomenon
Origin & Destination Countries
The U.S. is one of the most popular destinations for human trafficking.
The “Natasha Trade” Emerges in Eastern Europe
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Trafficking of Asian Migrants by “Snakeheads” Becomes
Lucrative International Business
Children Are Routinely Enslaved in West African Cocoa Farms
Children Are Also Exploited in Conflict Zones Around the
World as Child Soldiers
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Women Continue to Make Up 70% of the Victims Worldwide
Migrant Farmworkers Are Exploited Routinely
¾Yields an estimated $32 billion in profits each year, world-wide
¾An estimated $9 – $12 billion earned in the United States
A Lucrative Business
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¾After drug trafficking, human trafficking is the most lucrative business for organized crime
¾Unlike drugs, humans can be resold again and again
Organized Crime
It’s Here in the United States
National Trafficking Hotline
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It’s Here in New York
Top 5 Source Countries for Labor Trafficking in N.Y. State
• Mexico• India• Indonesia• Philippines• Nigeria
* Source: Immigrant Women & Children’s Project (IWC)
U.S. and New York Labor Trafficking Trends
and Cases
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U.S. Labor Trafficking Cases
U.S. Venues for Labor Trafficking
¾ Agriculture
¾ Hotels & Resorts
¾ Sweatshops andIndustry
¾ Domestic Servitude
¾ Diplomatic Staff
¾ Peddling Rings
¾ Service Sector
¾ Nails / Massage
¾ Strip Clubs
¾ The largest number of trafficking cases nationwide
¾ The largest number of victims
¾ Often occur “in plain sight”
¾ Often involve legitimate U.S. businesses (willful blindness)
U.S. Labor Trafficking Cases
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¾ Exploits both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens
¾ Typically the trafficker is the farm labor contractor
¾ But demand for trafficking comes from large agribusiness & from consumers
1. Labor Trafficking in Agriculture
Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
¾ First involuntary servitude case in U.S. prosecuted under the 2000 Trafficking Victim Protection Act
¾ Involved farm labor exploitation of 40+ Mexican adults and children in Orleans and Genesee Counties in western N.Y. (dairy, fruit, vegetable farms)
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Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
¾ Maria Garcia-Botello, an American of Mexican heritage, settled in N.Y. as a registered farm labor contractor
¾ Lured undocumented Mexicans to Albion, N.Y. from the Arizona border
¾ Then confiscated their documents and garnered their wages to pay off $1,800 travel debts
Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
¾ Workers held in squalid trailers and guarded by enforcers
¾ Those who complained were beaten with brass knuckles and threatened with deportation
¾ A family business: Garcia’s sons and husband part of scheme
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Forced Agricultural LaborGarcia-Botello Case (2002)
¾ Workers escape and contact Farm Worker Legal Services of New York
¾ Garcia pleads guilty & given 46 month sentence
¾ Workers go on to win 2013 class action suit against Botello-Garcia & 36 other farm contractors
Homeless men and women recruited from public shelters for exploitation on potato and cabbage farms in North Florida
Forced Agricultural LaborEvans Case (Florida)
Forced Agricultural LaborEvans Case (Florida)
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Evans Case (Florida)Were held on isolated farms and plied daily with alcohol and crack cocaine . . . Drug and alcohol costs became the source of debt servitude
Investigation begins when EPA detects high level of human feces in St. John River
Evans Case (Florida)
Trafficker Johnny Evans
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¾ Global Horizons an L.A. based company run by Israeli immigrant Mordechai Orian
¾ Orian marketed his services promising that Thai laborers were compliant, hard-working, and could be secured through recruiting debts (of $15,000 - $25,000)
Global Horizons Case
¾ Between 2005 and 2007, Global Horizons brought over 700 Thai workers into the U.S. to perform agricultural labor
¾ The workers were sent to California, Washington, Florida, Hawaii, and Utahand subcontracted out to local farms
¾ Workers’ travel documents were confiscated by Global Horizons
Global Horizons Case
¾ Thai workers housed in storage containers, kept in isolated locations, and threatened with deportation if they objected
¾ Company instructed the workers that Americans hated Asians
¾ Workers’ wages were garnished by Global Horizons and supposedly sent to Thailand
Global Horizons Case
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Groups of Thai workers brought to farms on mainland & Hawaii on H-2A agriculture visas
Global Horizons Case
Hawaii FarmsUtah Farms
¾ U.S. Justice Department moves to prosecute Global Horizons and Orian
¾ Comprised largest human trafficking case prosecuted to date in the United States
¾ USDOJ abruptly drops all charges in July 2012 with vague explanation that it could not prove case beyond a reasonable doubt
Global Horizons Case
2. Labor Trafficking in U.S. Hotels & Resorts
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San Destin Hilton Case (Florida)The Victims:
� Eastern European college students admitted on J-1 student visas
� Arrived with plane tickets that would cost $2,000+ to change
San Destin Hilton CaseThe Traffickers – Eastern European Organized Crime Groups:
Eurohouse (2 companies)Southern Amenity et alSigor, Inc. ISS Inc., et alHigh Quality ServicesMVA Right ServicesEBSDarPol & AmPol Maint
Florida Panhandle Locations
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Southeast Locations
2010 Manuel Case (Boca Raton)
¾ Husband & wife Filipino subcontractors lure Filipino cruise ship employees to Boca Raton promising high paying “land” jobs
¾ 50+ Filipinos are held in a gated neighborhood and contracted out to the Boca Woods Country Club
2010 Manuel Case (Boca Raton)
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� Upon arrival in Florida, victims have their passports and ID documents confiscated
� Victims told that perpetrators have special relationship with local ICE officer
2010 Manuel Case (Boca Raton)
2010 Manuel Case (Boca Raton)
� Victims rescued when found begging for food outside a Catholic Church
� Florida Attorney General opens case as wage and hour violation
� Federal case follows
3. Labor Trafficking inIndustry & Sweatshops
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Several of the most prestigious U.S. law firms announce they will pursue multiple human trafficking lawsuits on a pro bono basis against Signal International on behalf of 500+ guest workers from India.
May 21, 2013 Lawsuits Announced
Largest Labor Trafficking Lawsuit in U.S. History
¾ Suit claims Signal defrauded workers of tens of thousands of dollars with “recruitment fees”
¾ Further alleges workers confined to overcrowded & unsanitary shipyard camps in Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama
Lawsuit Alleges Massive Fraud & Abuses by U.S. Company
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Workers allege visitors not allowed in camps and that company officials regularly searched their belongings
Workers who complained were threatened with deportation
Sweatshop TraffickingEl Monte Case (California)
¾ 72 Thai women rescued in 1995 in East Los Angeles
¾ Had been held in residential neighborhood and exploited in a sweatshop ringed with barbed wire
¾ Debt servitude enhanced by “company store” coercion
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The Victim Rescue
The Suburban Sweatshop
The front view The back view
4. Domestic Servitude
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Domestic Servitude¾ Forms of house slavery
¾ Perpetrator often from the same country as the victim
¾ Victims most often female
¾ “Cultural misunderstanding” the typical defense of the trafficker
Domestic ServitudeSabhnani Case
Long Island Dunkin Donut employees encounter partially clad Indonesian woman in May 2007 with signs of extreme physical abuse
Victim had escaped from home of millionaire couple Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani, owners of multinational perfume business
Domestic ServitudeSabhnani Case
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51 year old victim had been held since 2002 as virtual house slave in the family’s $2 million Muttontown mansion
Domestic ServitudeSabhnani Case
Woman testifies about routine abuses that had risen to the level of torture:
¾ Repeated beatings with brooms & umbrellas
¾ Being cut with a knife and burned with scalding water
¾ Being forced to swallow chili peppers &then eat her own vomit
Domestic ServitudeSabhnani Case
Sabhnani CaseVictim When Rescued
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¾ Varsha Sabhnani identified as prime perpetrator and given 11 year sentence for forced labor
¾ Husband Mahender Sabhnani also deemed culpable even though he never inflicted physical abuse
¾ Given 3 year sentence
Domestic ServitudeSabhnani Case
5. Abuses by Diplomats
Alleged Human Trafficking 2013 Khobragade Case
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Manhattan federal prosecutor accuses India Deputy Consul in N.Y. Devyani Khobragade of underpaying a maid from India and then lying about her wages in order to obtain a U.S. visa for the woman.
Alleged Human Trafficking Khobragade Case (Dec. 2013)
2013 Khobragade CasePolitical Firestorm Ensues
¾ Criminal charge is for visa fraud (not human trafficking)
¾ Khobragade allegedly strip-searched
¾ Khobragade successfully claims diplomatic immunity and is recalled to India
Alleged Human Trafficking 2013 Khobragade Case
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Alleged Human Trafficking March 2014 Islam Case
¾ Male domestic worker sues Consul General Monirul Islam from Bangladesh alleging inhumane conditions & low pay
¾ Worker claims Islam confiscated his passport & kept him in slave-like conditions in Consul’s W. 57th Street apartment
Alleged Human Trafficking March 2014 Islam Case
¾ Exploit both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens
¾ Individuals may appear to beg on their own behalf or for a charitable organization
¾ Often offer token items in exchange for a donation
6. Peddling & Begging Rings
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1997 N.Y.C. Paoletti Case
¾ Beginning in early 1990s, Mexican Paoletti family begins to lure deaf and mute Mexicans to the U.S. with promises of better jobs and social treatment
¾ Once arrived, victims forced to hawk trinkets in New York and other cities
1997 N.Y.C. Paoletti Case
1997 Paoletti Case ¾ Victims all had a daily sales quota
¾ If they failed to meet the quota they were beaten or shocked with stun guns by ringleader Adriana Lemus
¾ Were held in overcrowded apartments in Queens and the Bronx
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1997 N.Y.C. Paoletti Case Victims rescued after encounter with U.S. Good Samaritan
1997 N.Y.C. Paoletti Case ¾ Specialized victim care required--
N.Y.C. rents hotel to house victims
¾ Paoletti family believed to have trafficked as many as 1,000 hearing impaired Mexicans and earned $8 million in profits
¾ Adriana Lemus Paoletti given 14 year sentence
¾ Often involves “Mom and Pop” family retail or ethnic businesses
¾ Victims typically exploited by a trafficker from their own home country
7. Forced Labor in the Service Industry
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2010 Afolabi Case (New Jersey)
Akouavi Afolabi recruits girls from Togo & Ghana and exploits them in N.J. hair braiding salons
2010 Afolabi Case¾ Victims as young as 10 live and work
as slaves in Newark and East Orange
¾ Victims not allowed to attend school or make friends
¾ Afolabi threatens the girls with voodoo curses as part of the coercion
2013 “7-Eleven Plantation” Case
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2013 “7-Eleven Plantation” Case
¾ In June 2013 federal law enforcement agents execute search warrants nationwide on 30+ 7-Eleven Stores
¾ Ten owners & managers of stores on Long Island charged with decade-long trafficking scheme
2013 “7-Eleven Plantation” Case
¾ Suspects alleged to have exploited numerous males from Pakistan for labor trafficking in 7-Eleven stores
¾ Traffickers provided workers with identities stolen from U.S. citizens in seven states
2013 “7-Eleven Plantation” Case
¾ Victims held in homes adjacent to or near 7-Eleven stores
¾ Prosecutors term the case a “nationwide 7-Eleven Plantation”
¾ Five Long Island homes seized
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8. Massage & Nail Establishments
¾ Can be fronts for sex trafficking
¾ But also for labor trafficking of women from China, Korea, S. Asia
¾ Victims can owe smuggling debts as high as $100,000 . . . Are among the least cooperative victim witnesses for U.S. law enforcement
Massage & Nail Establishments
9. Labor Trafficking in Strip Clubs
Foreign-born dancers often forced to pay off immigration & recruiting debts
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2005 Trakhtenberg Case
Russian entertainment promoter exploits immigrant women in N.J. strip clubs
2005 Trakhtenberg Case¾ Lev Trakhtenberg brings women from
Russia to Brooklyn with visa fraud scheme
¾ Women driven nightly to N.J. and forced to work in strip clubs and to prostitute to pay off travel costs
¾ Trakhtenberg threatens women with harm to families in Russia
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)
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¾ Prevent HT overseas and within US
¾ Protect & help victims to rebuild their lives
¾ Prosecute traffickers with enhanced criminal penalties
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)
TVPA enacted in 2000 in order to:
¾ Meant to counter emerging trends in human trafficking nationwide
¾ Meant to legislatively respond to 1988 Kozminski Supreme Court decision (holding that slavery cases required showing of force or threat of force).
TVPA Background
¾ Trafficking victims, even if in U.S. illegally, viewed as crime victims.
¾ Programs created to assist victims including immigration remedies.
¾ Benefits afforded refugees given to HT victims willing to assist in prosecution.
TVPA = Victim-Centered Law
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¾ In U.S. law, human trafficking is now defined as criminal acts of involuntarylabor or commercial sexual exploitation that are induced through force, fraud, or coercion
¾ Similar to the definition under international law (U.N. Protocol)
Human Trafficking Defined
¾ Physical force is no longer required
¾ Showing of fraud or psychological coercion now suffices
¾ Prosecutors now have new tools to prove up slavery in U.S. courts
Physical Force Not Required
Force: physical violence that may take the form of beatings, rape, shootings, starvation, or physical confinement
TVPA – Force
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Fraud: can include false or deceptive offers of employment, marriage, or a better life
TVPA – Fraud
¾ Threats of serious harm against the victim
¾ Threats against the victim’s family
¾ Threats of deportation
TVPA – Coercion (“Invisible Chains”)
¾ Obtain medical care, witness protection, housing assistance, other social services
¾ Obtain civil remedies for financial losses
¾ Sue traffickers for punitive damages
TVPA Victim ProtectionsEnable trafficking victims to:
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¾ “T” trafficking visa created by Congress to give victims temporary legal status
¾ Victims must be willing to participate in law enforcement investigation
New Immigration Remedy
¾ Creates new offense of Fraud in Foreign Labor Contracting
¾ Criminalizes recruitment of foreign laborers using materially false or fraudulent representations
¾ Meant to address prevalent abuses by U.S. workforce recruiters overseas
Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008
The anti-trafficking movement in the United States is made up of a unique partnership:
1) Law Enforcement & prosecutors
2) Non-governmental service providers
The Collaborative Approach
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DOJ-Funded HT Task Forces
New York Labor Trafficking Statutes
¾ New York revamped its labor trafficking statutes in 2007 to cover nuances of modern trafficking cases
¾ N.Y. now has among the most comprehensive trafficking laws in the country
New York Labor Trafficking Statutes
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¾ Creates crime of Labor Trafficking
¾ Class D Felony with maximum sentence of 7 years
¾ Court may also impose a fine of $5,000 or double the defendant’s gain
N.Y. Penal Law 135.35
To compel a person to engage in labor (or to recruit, entice, harbor, or transport a person for labor) by means of intentionally:
1) Providing the victim with a controlled substance in order to impair a person’s judgment
N.Y. Penal Law 135.35
2) Requiring servicing of a real or purported debt . . . intended to defraud another person
3) Withholding or destroying actual or purported government identification documents
N.Y. Penal Law 135.35
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4) Using force or engaging in any scheme, plan, or pattern meant to instill fear of:
(a) Physical injury or death
(b) Damage to Property
(c) Unlawful imprisonment
N.Y. Penal Law 135.35
(d) Threat of criminal charges or deportation
(e) Exposing a secret or fact that could lead to contempt or ridicule
(f) Testifying or withholding testimony regarding a legal claim
(g) Abuse of a position of public duty or authority
N.Y. Penal Law 135.35
When a claimant applies as a victim of labor trafficking or sex trafficking for victim services, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such a victim has suffered physical injury for purposes of eligibility
N.Y. Codes, Rules, Regulations9 N.Y.C.R.R. 525.20
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¾ No private right of action
¾ Explicit victim restitution provision needed
¾ Sentencing disproportionate with sex trafficking offenses
Remaining Gaps in N.Y. Labor Trafficking Laws
http://www.htcourts.org
Resource for Judges and Courts
Thank You!
Professor Terry [email protected]
Questions?
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