Law enforcement officials meet to discuss human trafficking

By Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff

The MetroWest Daily News

Posted Jun 22, 2011 @ 12:24 AM


BOSTON —


They live in the shadows, sometimes working as prostitutes or drug couriers, cowed into silence by their bosses by threats or beatings. The luckier ones work long hours for low pay at beauty salons and restaurants.

They are illegal immigrants and the victims of human trafficking, tricked into coming from impoverished homelands to the United States with promises of a better life. Finding them is hard because they fear being deported.

To reach that vulnerable population, federal officials are meeting with local law enforcement agencies and communities today in Boston to publicize a visa program that can help them stay in the country.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can give out what's called a T visa that allows smuggling victims to stay here legally and work toward full citizenship. The agency can grant 5,000 visas annually, but so far only 300 people have applied, officials said.

Denis Riordan, Citizenship and Immigration Services' Boston district director, said many victims stay hidden out of fear that they will be deported if they go to the police. Some are coerced into silence by their traffickers, who threaten to turn them in to authorities.

"They're people who live in the shadows...people who feel hopeless, really," Riordan said.

Agency officials hope today's meetings in Boston, part of a national campaign that is a first of its kind for the agency, will help local police and immigrant support groups connect those victims with the T visa program.

The agency doesn't have data on how many immigrants are illegally smuggled into the state or where they go.

Some end up in prostitution, while others go on to work essentially as indentured servants, toiling in restaurants and nail salons for little to no pay, said Sister Joanne Gallagher, of the Sisters of St. Joseph Boston, who are active in fighting human smuggling.

"They come in all good faith thinking they're seeking a better life, but when they get here, they don't realize what that job is," she said.

Melissa Hartford, an attorney with MetroWest Legal Services in Framingham who specializes in family law and immigration, said her office sees far more immigrants coming in because of violent crimes. Many of those are eligible for U visas, which like T visas, allow victims to stay in the country legally.

The government routinely reaches its cap of 10,000 U visas a year, said Lynn Boudreau, assistant center director at the agency's Vermont Service Center.

Hartford said T visas are more difficult to obtain. An applicant for a T visa, for instance, must prove he or she would suffer "extreme hardship" if removed from the U.S., a requirement that doesn't exist for the U visa.

In MetroWest, some authorities said it's rare to see cases of human trafficking coming to the attention of police.

"We haven't seen any instances of it," said Marlborough Police Chief Mark Leonard. His department does outreach to get immigrants to report crimes, but not trafficking specifically, he said.

"It's just whether or not you run into it," said Milford Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin. "To some degree, it's difficult to enforce."

There is also a push on Beacon Hill to pass legislation increasing penalties for human trafficking and creating more support for victims. Massachusetts is one of the few states that doesn't have a law specifically outlawing trafficking, which makes it difficult to know how widespread the problem is, Hartford said.

"It's hard to put your finger on," she said. "It's an underground economy."

Anti-trafficking advocates say the agency's latest outreach campaign is a promising step.

"We're constantly asking that the federal government and state government make more information available to trafficked people," said Sister Gallagher.

"I think that can only help," Hartford said. "This is the kind of thing you need to shine a light on, and maybe dispel some fears."

www.metrowestdailynews.com