LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Problem once thought dire hasn’t been confirmed

Millions spent to fight human trafficking; few examples found

Monday, Dec. 8, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It sounded like a script of an international spy thriller: lies, border-crossings, violence, sex.

Except Metro Police Sgt. Gil Shannon was describing the scene he and his officers encountered at dozens of Las Vegas Valley massage parlors every week: women speaking foreign languages, bags barely unpacked, practically imprisoned.

It was nothing less than “sex slavery.”

The audience of academics, police, lawyers and social workers gathered at UNLV listened intently as Shannon spoke about human trafficking, a scourge that was doubtless spreading across the valley. The theory, said Shannon and others, was simple: with sex for sale on the streets of Las Vegas, bad guys around the world must be bringing women here with lies or against their will to meet the demand. All the people sitting there had to do was work together to bust the traffickers and rescue the victims.

The date was Sept. 19, 2003.

Within two years, the federal government delivered more than a million dollars to help search for trafficking victims in the region. The fight was a top priority of the Bush administration, which would pour more than $150 million into similar efforts nationwide.

Today, however, despite the time and money invested, Southern Nevada is no closer to understanding the problem — or more important, even proving that there is a problem, say top officials at Metro Police and at the Salvation Army. The two agencies are the main players on a task force funded by most of the federal money.

No traffickers have been caught.

The number of victims has barely reached double digits.

What’s more, the Health and Human Services Department, one source of the federal money, has no records of the results of its grants and the other federal agency funding the effort, the Justice Department, would not provide records to the Las Vegas Sun.

Similar outcomes have been seen nationwide, with few victims and fewer traffickers identified since Congress passed a law to attack the problem in 2000. That law laid out conditions for the “T” visa, which gives trafficking victims the right to live in the United States.

As of November, only 1,318 such visas had been granted nationwide.

Federal estimates of the number of victims have ranged from 14,500 a year up to 50,000, the number cited in the 2000 law.

Sharon Neville is a lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles who was at the 2003 UNLV meeting. She trains attorneys and workers for nonprofit groups on the issue nationwide. Neville said she has stopped citing government estimates because she doesn’t think they’re reliable, and instead quotes the number of visas issued — “that’s the only thing you can point to.”

As for the results seen so far in Las Vegas and elsewhere, she doesn’t think it’s a sign that there is no problem, but rather that the federal money is being poorly spent. Task forces and other projects overlook basic but vital assets such as people who speak the language and understand the culture of the victims. She also thinks there has been a tendency to focus on trafficking for sex, ignoring large numbers of victims brought into the country to work in such industries as farming.

“Unfortunately, if you’re looking for headlines, sex trafficking sells,” she said.

Lt. Raymond Steiber, who in May became the point man at Metro Police for a $492,000 Justice Department grant on human trafficking, acknowledged that the August 2006 grant had not led to the prosecution of a single trafficker. He also said he did not have information readily available on how many victims the task force had helped.

“We really don’t know if there’s a problem, or how big it is,” Steiber said. But he cautioned that the absence of data should not be read as an indication the problem does not exist.

Steiber said the first year-plus of the grant suffered from a lack of organization, with little understanding about the different roles of policing, social services and immigration law.

Protocols are now in place, with Metro at the helm and other agencies providing support.

The Justice Department also gave $450,000 to the Salvation Army of Clark County in late 2006.

Maj. William Raihl, coordinator of the Salvation Army, said 12 people have been identified as victims of trafficking and are seeking permission to stay in the United States.

“If you look at the number of victims we’ve helped, we’re falling short,” he said. “That’s been the most disappointing thing.”

In 2005 and 2006, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department awarded $150,000 to WestCare, another local nonprofit, to find and help trafficking victims. The plan was to troll streets and massage parlors for women brought from foreign countries by deception or against their will. But social workers at the agency ran across few trafficking victims, instead finding that at least 90 percent of the women had other troubles, such as being underage runaways.

At the time, Metro Police Capt. Terry Lesney said she was “looking for that perfect test case, to set a precedent ... like a minor who comes here thinking she’s going to be a star and then she’s forced into prostitution.”

That case never came.

Attorney David Thronson, one of the founders of UNLV’s immigration law clinic, was tapped to provide legal assistance to victims in the Metro-led task force. But in April 2007, when the task force faced its first big test, Thronson found he was left out of the loop.

A two-year federal and local investigation had uncovered a prostitution ring involving seven men and about 25 women, mostly from Asia. The idea was to interview the women, determine where they were from and whether they were brought here by deception or against their will. They were to be advised of the protections available to them under federal law.

But Thronson learned about the case from a newspaper. By the time he contacted Metro and the Salvation Army, most of the women had been let go.

The attorney said the case showed the task force “had a lot of room for improvement.” He hopes Steiber’s efforts to get agencies on the same page will yield better results.

Thronson also wonders whether the lack of results so far reflects a tendency to focus too much on sex. The few trafficking cases he knew of to date mostly involved men and women brought to Las Vegas to work in other areas, including housekeeping.

Thronson said more effort should be made to gain the trust of potential victims, because many have not only been deceived, but also brutalized physically and psychologically.

Raihl, of the Salvation Army, said finding and helping victims has been more difficult than he thought. Obtaining the “T” visa alone takes up to a year, Raihl said, though he was told going into the grant that the process would take less than six months.

Turnover on the task force has made the job even harder, he added. Both Metro and the Salvation Army are on their second director, the person who handles day-to-day work.

Under the terms of its grant, the Salvation Army cannot help victims obtain government services once the federal government determines they have been trafficked into the country. Raihl said he was confused about whom to “hand off” clients to once they reach that point.

The federal government has given about $8.5 million since 2006 for such services to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference contracts with local agencies. But only $9,000 has come into Las Vegas so far, according to Nyssa Mestas, associate director for anti-trafficking in migration and refugee services at the conference.

Mestas said she couldn’t reveal how many victims had been helped with that money, but it was “a very small number.”

“I’m going, ‘Where are the cases?’ I don’t know what’s going on in Vegas,” she said from her Washington office.

Mestas said recently she has been unable to find a Southern Nevada agency to work with.

But, she said, the valley’s task force isn’t the only one to take some time getting off the ground. It’s a problem she attributes to different worldviews of law enforcement and social service providers.

As for the Washington agencies with their hands on the purse strings, the attitude seems to be one of detached patience when it comes to the meager results from Southern Nevada.

Justice Department officials said reports on the local task force’s performance were not available without a Freedom of Information Act request.

Joye Frost, with the department’s office for victims of crime, said both the issue and the task forces need more time. “It’s an emerging issue ... and just giving folks money doesn’t mean there’s an expertise,” she said.

Arne Owens, spokesman at Health and Human Services, said “there are no reports that can provide any information on outcomes” from grants to Las Vegas, adding that any money spent helping victims is “wisely spent.”

The Department of Justice grants are set to expire in August.

Thronson noted that if Las Vegas is a target for traffickers, as federal and local officials have claimed, then, “we reach one of two conclusions: Either the numbers are wrong or we’ve reached a crisis and we’re not doing anything to effectively address it.

“The truth is probably somewhere in between.”

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By pmmart

12/8/08 at 6:59 a.m.

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Seems I have been reading of a case in Iowa where a company has been hiring illegal immigrants, charging them 100 dollars [each] per week to share an apt. with 14 other migrants, paying less than state mandated minimum wage and not paying overtime.

Wouldn't this at least resemble human trafficing ...or does the importance of delivering cheap food to our tables outweigh the methods used in assuring the end results?
By azsk8fan

12/8/08 at 2:27 p.m.

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No sympathy for illegals who come here knowingly breaking the law - I don't care if they wind up working for free much less for less than minimum wage - they don't belong here to begin with so they don't have a leg to stand on. If they want to come to this country then do it legally and please, learn to speak OUR language.
By johnevegas

12/8/08 at 2:50 p.m.

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"No sympathy for illegals..."

Then none for you. No compassion gets no compassion. Enjoy your karma.

Do you have this feeling for Canadians and Europeans as well? Or is it just brownies who speak the wrong language that you hate?
By LasVegas2009

12/8/08 at 4:38 p.m.

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Well you are right azsk8fan if they cant respect the laws on the way in then they should not benefit from them once they are here. And it doesnt matter where they come from last I checked 1000's of asians are showing up illegal each year as well as our neighbors to the south. If you break our laws to come in then you should be punished by them for doing so. If you not a citizen then you have no rights. Try breaking the boarder laws in Peru and you are shot on site. Most country's have laws that are enforced. All we get is hot air and more illegals each year.
By azsk8fan

12/9/08 at 6:22 a.m.

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I'm not asking for nor looking for sympathy - I am born and raised here - I speak English - I work every day - in other words I pull my own weight - I don't break the law, I abide by the rules - and I don't hire Mexicans to cut my grass, clean my house etc etc etc - I also don't use the self-check-out lanes at stores, put in place by greedy stores who want to save the price of a cashier by having the customer do the job for free - if you notice the store doesn't even offer any kind of 'discount' for checking out and bagging your own groceries. Karma will take care of my ass because I look out for Americans - I try to do whatever I can do to preserve their jobs, and as for karma maybe those who don't do all they can to preserve jobs for LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS are the ones who should be looking over their shoulder - karma's not gonna be too kind when it catches up to those people -
By azsk8fan

12/9/08 at 6:24 a.m.

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Yes, LasVegas - that's all we get because we have namby-pamby politicians who owe so many 'favors' to big business - and who benefits most by all the illegals if not big business. This country needs to toughen up on this whole issue - and yes, it's not just Mexicans - there are a whole lot of people coming from places besides Mexico - and I feel exactly the same about all of them, regardless of their skin color and regardless of whatever language they're spouting.
By johnevegas

12/9/08 at 6:40 a.m.

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"Karma will take care of my ass because I look out for Americans..."

Huh? Karma does not deal in preferences or borders. It deals with balance and applies universally. Your argument leaves out that these "criminals" you talk about are already running from repression and poverty.

If you want to improve your Karma, worry about your own compassion or lack thereof. Serving others and having compassion is the best way to do that. Americans are not your only brothers on this planet. Take that inscription on the statue of Liberty seriously. That's really all you have to do.
By CJaye

12/9/08 at 5:46 p.m.

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Being one who networks against human sex trafficking and has been involved in the search for Jessica Foster from the beginning practically.I have to say with the undercover work I've done The stories these girls have to tell,there is a serious problem. You just aren't looking in the right places & not looking at the right people.

"despite the time and money invested, Southern Nevada is no closer to understanding the problem or more important, even proving that there is a problem".

Most of the women that are trafficked in & out of Las Vegas are prostitutes. The police are all overworked and can't stop to look for every prostitute. That's their mind set. The Government writes papers,takes survey's,do stats,on all of the prostitution, forced prostitution, and human sex trafficking but they will never have true figures.If this is the # 2 illegal crime in the world now soon it will be #1 over drugs. Drugs can't be re-sold. Sex can over and over some children up to 30 a day.

It can be in your backyard your next door neighbor. Jessie Foster is just one of many thousands of adults and children sold every year. People like Peter Todd, Donald Vaz, Trish Van Arsdale,Yvonne Hubrectsen need to be stopped from this awful crime.

These are some of the people you need to looking at. People like these pimps who sell girls when they are done with them. When the girl becomes too much trouble. Like Jessica she had been arrest for prostitution become too much trouble for Peter Todd. He told me he got stuck with her.

"if Las Vegas is a target for traffickers, as federal and local officials have claimed,then,we reach one of two conclusions:numbers are wrong or we've reached a crisis and we're not doing anything to effectively address it.
The truth is probably somewhere in between."

Well let me tell you the numbers are wrong and your not doing enough to effectively address it.
Effectively addressing it is being on the streets and watching this girls. Not as watch dogs but just watching Truck stops, Hotels, Brothels. This is how your going to see forced sex trafficking, sex trafficking rings.

Do you know there are girls that come back and forth from Mexico sex trafficked. But some are allowed to travel back and forth to recruit. If you just talked to some of the mothers of these trafficked daughters you would learn so much.

Glendene Grant would blow you mind with the information she has learned in the time Jessica has been missing. ATLAS is working Jessie case as well, another great source if in need of. NCMLO another great source,Frank Mahoney. Alot of sources not enough people to get out and go look!!!
By CJaye

2/11/09 at 10:09 a.m.

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The bickering is totally out of line here. You guys don't get the big picture. It's really not about illegals. IT'S ABOUT HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING!The sell of a human being. You guys sound like children fighting over a toy.