Prosecution of Labor Trafficking in South Florida Results from Community Outreach and Collaboration
Earlier this year, the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida prosecuted its first agricultural labor trafficking case . The traffickers, a father and son, were unlicensed labor subcontractors on tomato farms and used physical violence, threats of deportation, and the withholding of papers to keep workers enslaved.
“The successful prosecution is a testament of the impact that collaboration, effective outreach, and a more inclusive focus on all forms of trafficking have on identifying victims of trafficking across the US.” - Regina Bernadin, International Rescue Committee, Miami
IRC Miami works to reach the farm worker community in the southern part of Miami-Dade County. This isolated and often overlooked area brings together Mexican, Guatemalan, and Haitian laborers who work in the fields picking tomatoes, citrus, and other produce. Through the Rescue and Restore Regional grant program, IRC was able to use PSAs and other tools to reach the vibrant farm worker community, inform them of their rights, and connect them with local anti-trafficking services. One of these tools was water bottles promoting the National Human Trafficking Hotline number that they distributed in the fields. So far, IRC has given away over 40,000 materials. The National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified more than 424 human trafficking cases in agriculture and animal husbandry (PDF) across the country.