Illegal Immigration Roundup
I have a small backlog of illegal immigration related stories. Some are older, but they underscore the issue that illegal immigration encourages human trafficking.
- Nearly 50 Charged in Mexican Border Human Trafficking Ring
- Human smuggling ring with Fort Pierce ties is back in court
- Three Memphis, Tennessee Men Sentenced for Role in Sex Trafficking Ring
- From human trafficking suspicion to drug trafficking arrest
- Human-trafficking ring hit, agents say
I’ve seen several articles trying to differentiate between illegal immigration and human trafficking, mainly for the reason that immigrants consent to being smuggled. I think this differentiation is more political because it suggests that illegal immigration is not linked to human trafficking. But you can see from the above-linked articles that some victims of human trafficking start out with the intent of sneaking across the border but end up enslaved. Human trafficking seems to be more intertwined with the movement of illegals across the border than a strict definition allows. If you take the politics out of it, it’s clear that you can’t crack down on human trafficking without cracking down on all forms of smuggling people.
