I am routinely asked why we don’t see more people going to prison for the crime of trafficking in persons. The reasons are numerous, including the relatively recent creation of anti-trafficking laws, minimal training opportunities for law enforcement, the challenge for prosecutors, and the lack of public awareness. The complexity of trafficking is immense, and sometimes criminal convictions do not result even from the best efforts of investigators and prosecutors.
On June 14th the San Jose Mercury News reported that two individuals, Paula Luna Alvarez and her husband Carlos Del Carmen, who had been charged with 100 criminal counts by federal prosecutors - some of which may have been related to human trafficking - had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit social security fraud and were sentenced to five years probation. Reading the article, some of the complexities in this case become apparent. (There is a factual error in the article: the investigation was not initiated after the former employee reported the alleged smuggling to San Jose Police. The investigation was initiated and conducted by federal authorities after information was provided to a federal agency. During the course of the investigation some limited assistance was provided by San Jose Police officers assigned to the Human Trafficking Task Force and Special Investigations Unit.)
When the arrests were made in June 2008 (read a brief article on the arrests) it was believed human trafficking was involved. It took three years for this case to be concluded, which is not as rare; federal human trafficking prosecutions routinely take 18-24 months, or longer. (In contrast, when I was investigating sexual assaults where the cases are typically less complex and prosecuted by our county District Attorney, cases were usually adjudicated in less than a year.) These lengthy prosecutions are not the fault of any agency or the U.S. government, it is simply the result of the judicial process and, again, the complexity of these cases. Ultimately, regardless of how long a prosecution takes, it is disappointing when defendants seem to avoid having to pay their due for their alleged crimes. Ultimately, charges of forced labor or servitude (human trafficking) were not included in this case, but under both federal and state law, that doesn’t prevent the victims from receiving relief as victims of trafficking.
What we often neglect to remember is that while the wheels of justice turn slowly, victims of crime are trying desperately to move on with their lives, making the transition from “victim” to “survivor”. In this case, victims received a variety of services and reliefs from federal victim-assistance coordinators and from the victim-services agencies who are members of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking. Several of my colleagues worked closely with these survivors for over three years, and have had a positive impact on the lives of those who claimed they were exploited by Alvarez and Del Carmen. These professionals deserve our admiration for their dedication and compassion.
Identifying and rescuing victims of trafficking is not directly correlated to prosecutions, successful or otherwise. In fact, far more individuals are provided services after being classified as victims of trafficking than are represented as victims in trafficking prosecutions. So when we ask how many cases have been prosecuted, or how many traffickers have been sent to prison, we are only examining one component of our response, and it is the most difficult component in which to find success. The good news is that the number of successful prosecutions related to human trafficking are increasing. But it will be many years before these prosecutions are viewed as routine.
“Free the slaves” is not just a call to action, it is also the best measure of our success. If we focus on freeing those who are exploited, the successful prosecution of those who enslave will follow. With time and dedication our efforts will be rewarded and, hopefully, the incidents of disappointment and frustration in cases like this one in San Jose will be fewer and farther between.
