California Seen as Destination Spot for Human Trafficking
SACRAMENTO -- A new report released on Tuesday said thousands of people are becoming modern day slaves to human traffickers.
One of those victims was at Capitol Hill on Tuesday and spoke with NBC 11's Michael Luery.
"Esperanza," as she identified herself because she said she feared the human traffickers who brought her from Mexico to Los Angeles to work in a crowded sweatshop, used to be a sweatshop worker.
"I have to live and sleep in the shop," she said. "I have to work 17 hours a day, sometimes more. I have no freedom to go out of the shop. I had to sleep there."
Esperanza said she finally escaped from the sweatshop she was working at but she was one of the lucky ones.
There are an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 people nationwide considered to be indentured servants to their human trafficking masters, according to the study.
"Approximately 80 percent of the victims of human trafficking are women and girls," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. "And about 50 percent of the victims are minors."
But, the business of human traffickers is very profitable. "It is a billion dollar international industry and they move around from city to city, wherever they find vulnerable people," said San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.Lawmakers unveiled the report at Capitol Hill on Tuesday showing how widespread the practice is.
But, Esperanza knows firsthand the power of human traffickers.
"She threatened me," she said. "If I would go and talk to the police, they would put me in jail and I would never seen my children again."
Human trafficking operations have been discovered in nearly a dozen California cities, according to a UC Berkeley study. With California a top ten destination for human traffickers, according to the study, lawmakers said they would push for even tougher penalties next year to crack down on what they consider to be modern day slavery.
