Human Trafficking a Problem in Major Cities Across US

Download: se-dev-us-human-trafficking-14jun10.Mp3

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Each year since two thousand one, the American State Department has published a Trafficking in Persons Report. It measures efforts by countries to fight human trafficking. This year’s report, out Monday, adds the United States for the first time.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says people are being trafficked into major cities nationwide. Tim Whittman at the F.B.I. is an expert on the problem. He says about twenty percent of the cases involve victims from Mexico — the largest number of any foreign country.

Bradley Myles is with the Polaris Project, an organization that fights trafficking. He calls it “a very serious problem in the United States.” He says some of the victims are forced to work in homes of the wealthy and at restaurants. Activists say some cases of modern slavery involve forced labor in agriculture.