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Human Trafficking
Texas is a hub for international human trafficking because of its many busy interstate highways, international airports, countless bus stations, the shipping commerce through the Gulf of Mexico, and its shared border with Mexico.
July 7th, 2014
I spoke on the Senate floor today on the humanitarian crisis at the border and urged President Obama to visit the border during his upcoming trip to Texas. I recently visited McAllen, Texas myself a week ago today, and it is...
June 10th, 2014
Recently, I questioned Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson as part of a Judiciary Committee hearing to conduct oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). My colleagues and I covered a host of issues, but...
May 22nd, 2014
HOUSTON,Texas—The U.S. House of Representatives passed a series of bills on Tuesday attacking various aspects of our national problem of human trafficking. Texas is currently one of the nation’s hubs for human trafficking...
April 12th, 2014
Congressman Jim Costa and I joined members of the bipartisan Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus to honor this year’s outstanding individuals that have gone above and beyond to helping victims of crime. Costa and I...
March 13th, 2014
An unfortunate reality of the construction industry is that there are many instances of worker abuse. Much of this has been documented on Construction Citizen over the years. Terrible working conditions, worker...
January 28th, 2014
The tragedy of human sex trafficking cannot be fully realized until one sees the pain of hopelessness in the victims' eyes.On a recent trip to Honduras, I visited two shelters for sex trafficking victims: La Alianza and El...
January 21st, 2014
Modern day slavery of children will not end without public awareness.So in conjunction with the Polaris Project and Cindy McCain, Clear Channel is donating billboard space around Phoenix to inform the people of Arizona about...
January 10th, 2014
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a sobering reminder that even as we enter the year 2014, people around the world continue to be victims of slavery and human trafficking.Tragically, these...
November 29th, 2013
Houston, Texas has long been regarded as the nation's hub of human trafficking. Police organizations across the county have long been engaged in a variety of efforts to fight human trafficking in Harris County. Now, it seems...
October 31st, 2013
Note: The sixth paragraph of this article as been updated to correct an error. The original article stated Smitherman had received an "A" rating from the NRA. It is, in fact, an "A+" rating. The author apologizes...
July 3rd, 2014
Attorney General Greg Abbott announced the release of a Human Trafficking Prevention Manual that is targeted to teachers and other education professionals who will be facing an onslaught of potential victims in this coming...
May 28th, 2014
Unfortunately, human trafficking is a growing criminal activity that occurs outside of the public’s eye and is too often ignored. An estimated 100,000 children are sold in the sex trade in the United States each year. No...
May 15th, 2014
$12. In Nigeria, $12 is the cost of a bride slave. Recently, around 200 girls went to school and never came home. They were kidnapped and, for $12 apiece, sold to the Islamic militant terrorist group Boko Haram. They were...
March 24th, 2014
The House Homeland Security Committee held a field hearing in Houston, “Combating Human Trafficking in Major Cities.” Human trafficking is often called “modern-day slavery”.
February 3rd, 2014
As the run-up to early voting, which starts in just over two weeks, Texas Attorney General candidate, Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman, is taking his message to the voters with a new television ad which launched...
January 23rd, 2014
Recently, California State Assemblyman (equivalent of a Texas State House Legislator), Tim Donnelly spoke on the floor about our broken immigration system and the need for immigration reform and stronger border security....
January 17th, 2014
The United States is gearing up for the next Super Bowl. Unfortunately, so are human sex traffickers. Super Bowl Sunday is not just the sporting event of the year; it has also become America's traveling human trafficking...
December 26th, 2013
On the right we hear, "The border must be secured" and on the left we hear, "We must fix our broken immigration system". Both sides are right, but for a wide variety of reasons both are wrong if they will not look at the...
November 23rd, 2013
Representatives Ted Poe (R-TX), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Kay Granger (R-TX), Rick Nolan (D-MN), and Candice Miller (R-MI) along with Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)...
October 31st, 2013
MADISONVILLE – A Madison County jury sentenced defendant Jennifer Nicole Kelly, 33, of Madisonville, to prison for operating a human trafficking and prostitution ring in Madisonville.In April, the defendant was indicted for...
