Human Trafficking Watch

A mother and son were apparently tapped into the Mexican sex slave on demand network.

Gregoria Salgada Vazquez and David Salazar were charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child after they allegedly had the girl transported from Mexico to Houston, where they kept her pad locked in a room since Jan. 1, the TV station reports.

She reportedly was allowed to leave the room only when the two of them were present.

Police said the girl allegedly was forced to have sex with Salazar and also was taken to a Houston nigh [sic] club that the pair own and was forced to have sex with clients, the station reported.

She was ordered, trafficked in, and used in clubs just like drugs.

There are instances where illegal immigrants should not be deported, and the Washington Post published an excellent article about that very issue.

Molina, who works with the District-based La Cl¿nica Del Pueblo and founded a Virginia-based human rights organization for Latinas, said many of the women go from poverty in their countries to poverty in the United States and find themselves bound emotionally, psychologically and economically to the men who brought them across the border. Breaking that bond is one of the biggest challenges, she said.

“It’s a mixture of hatred and thankfulness,” she said. “They know they are exploited and being abused, but this is the same person who helped them cross the border. This is the same person who helped bring all the members of their family and who is going to bring their children.”

The real criminals are the traffickers and enslavement should qualify them for a lifetime in prison making small rocks out of big rocks. A good way to deal with the victims is to reward them for help in prosecution with a formal, legal process for staying in the country.

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.

Illegal immigration makes it so easy to manipulate the immigrants. They are the target of politicians who want them to vote. They are the target of businesses who want them to pay premiums. They are also the target of individuals who use their illegal status to keep them has house slaves.

Celestin, now 22, testified Wednesday that she considered suicide after years of beatings and intimidation. She tearfully described sleeping on the floor, rummaging through cast-off clothes in the garage for something to wear, bathing from a bucket or a garden hose and scrubbing floors when she should have been in school.

She said Theodore and Maude Paulin often struck her with their hands, shoes or objects such as a curling iron or a mortar if she didn’t finish the work to their satisfaction.

Defense attorneys argued during trial the Celestin’s allegations of abuse were motivated by her desire to be a permanent legal resident of the U.S.

The jury was also asked to consider whether Paulin should forfeit her home and other property used to keep Celestin working and out of school.

This went on for six years.  This is not isolated. Think of this story the next time you hear opponents of enforcing immigration laws making excuses for keeping things as they are.