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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (22726)	3/11/2008 1:45:25 PM
From: TideGlider	Respond to of 224713

jillosophy05-16-05, 10:41 AM Making human trafficking a felony Staff writer Bart Jones contributed to this story. May 16, 2005 ALBANY - In one of the largest human trafficking cases uncovered in the United States, about 60 Peruvian immigrants were rescued last year by federal authorities after they had been living in "captivity" in three homes in Brentwood, Amityville and Coram for as long as four years. Officials said the men and women were forced to turn over their paychecks to their captors, were housed in squalid conditions and lived with the constant threat of being deported. After being rescued, many remain psychologically scarred by the experience and are trying to resume normal lives with federal and state aid. Another raid took place in Brooklyn last month when federal agents busted a prostitution ring exploiting Asian girls. And across the country similar abuses have come to light. Earlier this year, in Michigan, a couple was accused of enslaving a 14-year-old African girl, hitting her with a belt and shoes and sexually abusing her for three years. Last fall, a 60-year-old Filipino woman in California won an $825,000 lawsuit after claiming she was enslaved and assaulted, working 18 hours a day, and sleeping in a dog bed. The people are among as many as 20,000 immigrants smuggled into the United States each year headed toward possible slavery or prostitution often through major ports in New York, California and Florida, according to federal officials and a Florida State University study. Now, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer with powerful majority sponsors in the Assembly and state Senate wants to make the act of human trafficking a felony, as well as give prosecutors tougher and more effective laws than the current statutes used, including kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. The law also provides a way for victims to recover payments for their physical, psychological and financial pain. "We can't allow the American dream to be turned into a nightmare of exploitation and abuse," Spitzer said. The Democratic candidate for governor called the crime a "shocking problem." A bill that would provide needed enforcement tools for the growing crime could be acted on before the legislative session is scheduled to end June 23, Spitzer spokesman Paul Larrabee said. "The trafficking of human life must not exist in a civil society," said Republican Sen. Dale Volker of Erie County, a leading law-and-order advocate in the legislature who is cosponsoring the measures. "After drugs and arms, the trafficking of women and children are the largest source of profit for organized crime," said Democratic Assemb. Joseph Lentol of Brooklyn. Several crime victims' groups have backed the proposal. "The problem of human trafficking has been escalating in the past few years," said Susan Xenarios of the Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims. "Service providers around the state see the enormous economic and human costs associated with this heinous act." New York would join several states since 2003 that made separate felonies of human trafficking. Washington state started with felonies and the ability of victims to be compensated. Texas, Florida and Missouri have adopted anti-trafficking laws. The Kansas governor signed a similar measure Friday. Connecticut and Washington have created commissions to study the issue. The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000 and since then Congress and the Bush administration have proposed several measures to bolster it. Staff writer Bart Jones contributed to this story. forums.realpolice.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------