Wednesday, May 8, 2013

SAUDI ENSLAVEMENT ALLEGATIONS LATEST CASE OF TRAFFICKING OF FOREIGN WORKERS



by Brandon Darby on Brietbart

As US media outlets report on recent allegations by two women who claim they were enslaved at a Saudi compound in the US, many US advocates who help human trafficking victims wonder why this common occurrence is only just now being reported on.

Two women from the Philippines alleged that they were held against their will at a Saudi compound believed to house a Saudi military attaché in McLean, Virginia. The women claimed that their documents were taken from them and they were forced into servitude.
Whether these allegations prove true or false, an FBI Special Agent who spoke with me previously on the issue of human trafficking claimed such occurrences are very common in the United States. "The most common form of human trafficking I’ve seen involves foreign workers who arrive in the US only to have their documents taken from them," I was told. "They are forced into servitude with with threats of deportation or threats to their relatives in their country of origin.”
Dottie Laster, a leading advocate who helps victims of human trafficking with her company, Laster Global, expressed surprise that so many are acting as though events like the one being alleged in the Saudi compound issue are uncommon:
Many of the victims I help have come from foreign nations and have had their documents taken from them by the people who helped them get to the US, or they are sold to others by the people who helped them get here. They are forced into servitude for either no pay or for ridiculously low pay. Many predators will pay a small amount so that any effort by authorities to prosecute them will become more difficult. This is true whether the victims are from Mexico, the Philippines, or any other nation on this earth. We deal with this every day in the US.
According to Laster, these allegations are not the first that have surfaced against Saudis bearing diplomatic immunity. Laster told Breitbart News of a 2004 case involving an African woman in the US: “She came because Saudi Royal family members were seeking medical care here in the US. She was a domestic servant to them in Saudi Arabia." 
"Once here, she escaped with the help of another staff member," Laster explained. "She was brought to me and she showed signs of severe physical abuse.”
“The FBI got involved and the victim was allowed to stay in the US, but the FBI and US Attorney’s office did not pursue charges due to diplomatic immunity. I also reported the issue to Diplomatic Security Services (DSS)," Laster said. "This occurred while I was employed by the YMCA as an advocate for victims of human trafficking in Houston, Texas."
Brandon Darby worked with the FBI in an undercover capacity on anti-human trafficking efforts for approximately seven to eight months in 2011-2012. He currently helps to provide safe shelter for victims and assist anti-human trafficking advocates in ensuring law enforcement properly assists victims.

Brandon Darby worked with the FBI in an undercover capacity on anti-human trafficking efforts for approximately seven to eight months in 2011-2012. He currently helps to provide safe shelter for victims and assist anti-human trafficking advocates in ensuring law enforcement properly assists victims.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Historical and Modern Slavery Collide





I had been a bit tired lately and quite frankly a bit beaten by the work I do. This rarely happens but when it does it is due to such loss and destruction of souls that I sometimes witness. I was in search of something to amaze and inspire me but could not think of what it would be. Soon after this feeling began, I was hosted at an event in Washington. Since, I live in Texas this was a rare treat. While in D.C., I made time to go to the home of Frederick Douglass. I have studied Douglass and his writings since I was a young child. I was always so amazed by a man who freed himself by not recognizing the legitimacy of his enslavement. In a time when it was illegal to educate slaves he learned to read and write and later was the editor of newspapers and authored books.

In a time when the American Dream was not available to him he struggled and overcame the legal and social barriers that blocked him from his freedom. After becoming free, he could have stopped there however he continued to combat the institutions that discriminated against and enslaved others. He was a strong advocate for women’s rights, the poor (black, white or any race), improved education, and for prison reform.

He excelled in education, languages, family life and served his country in numerous ways though public service. He was a U.S. ambassador to Haiti, a U.S. Marshall, advisor to Lincoln and four other presidents.

In 2007, I was so fortunate to meet a direct descendant of Frederick Douglas, Ken Morris. I could not believe my fortune. Now, I proudly serve on the board of advisors to the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives. So when given the amazing opportunity to see where my historical mentor and hero lived I took it with gusto. Since I am unfamiliar with Washington, I had no idea what this meant.

Cedar Hill*
I found a wonderful taxi driver and we began our journey. At first my GPS was confused by the address. The driver also could not recognize the address. We stopped and asked taxi drivers at two hotels and no one knew where it was. I was so confused, how could no one know where this amazing’s man’s house was located in a city he had made such a presence?


So finally, thanks to Google, we found the address. I showed my phone to the driver and suddenly all the confusion was clear to him. He said, no wonder- it is in a place in D.C. that is very dangerous. He said are you sure you want to go? I exclaimed, Yes! I told him about my work and how important Douglass was to helping me combat modern slavery. He said, OK, I will take you.

So we were to drive only 5 miles but it turned into another world. We crossed the Anacostia River and exited the freeway. There he so politely said I know you are from Texas but it would be very unethical for me to leave you here- he told me that there was a recent time when there were one to two bodies a day found due to murder, drugs and other crimes. He said they would know immediately that I was not from the neighborhood. I rarely yield to fear of bad neighborhoods however at this time his advice was appropriate.

I giggled and said yes I agree that I would stand out- as we drove by a group of people who all looked to under the influence of several substances. He also told me this area was known for drugs, weapons and prostitution. I thought how disrespectful to my historical hero that in the shadow his home, a symbol of his overcoming historical slavery, modern slavery was flourishing. I was truly angered. I kept thinking the tour is free- why don’t they all take it and understand that they are willingly forfeiting their freedom to criminal enterprises? If Douglass were alive I am sure he would be addressing them. The “Sage of Anacostia” would not remain silent.

So we made arrangements that my driver, Mosh, would drop me off and come back. When we arrived at the home which is a national park we found it was not open yet. My driver looked as if he was again struggling with ethics. He said, I cannot leave you here while they are closed- you will not be safe. I must say I agreed- so again we discussed what to do- it ended with he would stay with me- I agreed to pay his rate with the stipulation that he take the tour with me. He happily agreed.

As I was worried such a wonderful park would be crowded and the tour at capacity, we had arrived 45 minutes before they opened. We drove around and spoke about the city, Douglass, life in the 1800’s and what a beautiful day it was. When the first park ranger arrived we followed him in the service entrance. There, we were able to sit at the top of the very elevated property and see Washington as Douglass must have seen it every morning. It was so breath taking. The home was on the highest point and the land below was flat and could not obstruct the amazing view. We talked about Douglass and how he must have been able to see visitors approaching his home as far away and the Anacostia River. We spoke about the strenuous life one must have lived even in a fine house such as his- hauling water and materials, walking or riding everywhere and being your own security force in a time where just by being alive he created enemies.

Then the park opened and we went on a tour- again more amazement!

Douglass’ house was a grand 2-story home with cutting edge additions for the time- he had a washroom built for his wife before people washed their clothes indoors, indoor water, and the most family centered home one could imagine.

He had achieved the American dream in spite of all the harsh barriers of the time and his most horrific entrance into the world through the system of slavery. He was successful in education, family, finances and health. My new friend, Mosh and I left so inspired and humbled by our experience that we now stay in touch. I cannot wait to return and learn more about what is possible in the face of adversity.

However, it also reminded me of the many struggles we as a society face today. All I could think of is why does the community around this home allow criminal elements to flourish? It is so disrespectful to themselves and to those who came before them. What would Frederick Douglass do?

In my heart I felt that he would not relax, that he would not rest or recognize the situation as legitimate.

So with an inspired heart and determination I returned home and began again- combating these same elements wherever I am called. It just reminded me that modern slavery occurs everywhere- not just in the shadow of Douglass’ house- it is disrespectful and damaging everywhere and must be disrupted.

Thank you Frederick Douglass for reinvigorating my heart, my drive and my passion. Your efforts pass through time and have given me steam to proceed – I can’t wait to visit you again.-

*photo  "Courtesy of the National Park Service, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Understanding the Grooming Process Part 2



Part I of the series: What do bright college students have to worry about? 

Traffickers use many tactics to keep the victim under control. They use a spectrum of crimes to surround the victim in a climate of fear and distortion. The traffickers also use the judicial system to groom the environment to protect themselves. Many traffickers purposely get the victims arrested so as to empower themselves and further cause the victim to be isolated and dependent. All too often the judicial system is a willing participant.

A common example is the labor contractor or pimp who uses the threat of law enforcement when their victims start complaining. The trafficker will call Immigration and Customs Enforcement and report the illegal immigrant who is then arrested and deported. Problem solved for the trafficker and money in the bank for the employer who does not want to be bothered by paying for labor. The pimp may actually want the victim to get arrested as then he will be her ‘savior’ as he bails her out of jail (with the money she earned). He will then use this to further make her feel responsible for “costing him money” both for the bail and for the time she was not producing. This also prepares her for later when they all get caught she will do the time for him and protect him as all costs. He has then groomed her and the environment around her to make sure he walks and she takes the full punishment.

In the book The Art of Seduction, author Robert Greene has analyzed seducers over the centuries. In his list of tactics of the seduction process he outlines many of the tactics used by traffickers on the victims.

A few examples are:

  • Choose the right victims- the right victims are the ones you can fill a void- a completely contented person is almost impossible to seduce. 
  •  Create a false sense of security- begin at an indirect approach, an angle. The victims may be introduced to the trafficker by a friend or trusted family member. 
  • Send Mixed Signals this will both fascinate and confuse. For traffickers this is a combination of being nice with abuse- of being attentive and tender with being aloof and cruel. This is the most powerful part of the coercion used on the victims. 
  • Isolate the victim- Isolating them makes them weak and vulnerable to the trafficker’s influence. For the trafficked victims the isolation of a foreign country, language, culture even food is one of the traffickers best tools. For US citizen victims the traffickers will drive a wedge between family and friends of the victim. They will create discord that was not really there. This will have the victim off center and distrustful of the only people who could help her. Confused with no outside support they are easily led astray and controlled. 
  •  Mix pleasure with pain. According to Greene, the greatest mistake in seduction is to be too nice. Inflicting some pain to make the victim feel guilty and insecure. Then a return to kindness will bring them to their knees. With victims of trafficking this cycle repeats over and over. In one interview a victim said he beat me with a wire stick (a pimp stick) “I was bruised and bleeding and I did deserve it because I had not made enough money for him. Then he gently brushed my hair from my face and wiped my tears. He really cared for me.” 




Continued in part 3- What will happen ot the target once “The Game” begins--

Friday, April 5, 2013

Anti-Human Trafficking Fighter Attacked in Texas Home


FBI DOCUMENTS CONNECT ARYAN BROTHERHOOD WITH MEXICAN CARTELS








Brandon Darby

Reblogged from Breitbart.Com



News coverage of the assassinations of Kaufman County, TX Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, District Attorney Mike McLelland, and McLelland's wife Cynthia has turned to the alleged involvement of a group named the Aryan Brotherhood (AB).


Considering McLelland was part of a task force that investigated the Aryan Brotherhood, and in light of the recent killing of Colorado prison chief Tom Clements allegedly by a member of a white supremacist prison gang, this theory that the AB may have been involved in the murders clearly has some merit.


Yet in that coverage, the mainstream media has gone to great lengths to label ad-infinitum the Aryan Brotherhood as a “white supremacist” group, implying a racial motivation. The AB, even if involved at all, however, may have been motivated not by a "white supremacist” philosophy, but rather by something more mundane. Evidence suggests that the Aryan Brotherhood has morphed into what is primarily a drug-trafficking gang, and there is a more frightening possibility: that the Aryan Brotherhood is acting as a conduit, doing the dirty work for a Mexican drug cartel criminal insurgency into the United States.


In November of last year, for example, an Aryan Brotherhood member went on the record stating that he had helped smuggle hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine across the border from Mexico. According to the Mexican newswire Notimex, the AB member "stated that he had some important connections with Mexican drug cartels."


On Tuesday of this week, a federal task force apprehended an Aryan Brotherhood "general" who "had ounces of crystal methamphetamine" on him at the time of his arrest.


Moreover, since many Republicans and Democrats seek a compromise on immigration reform in short order, it is not surprising that politicians are themselves ignoring the possible connection between the murders and the Mexican cartels, with the notable exception of Governor Rick Perry. After all, if Americans were to find out that the Mexican cartels are operating on U.S. soil, it would likely change the immigration debate and could potentially delay a deal indefinitely.



In fact, ample evidence suggests that the AB does not typically operate under racial motivations, and they have a history of working with the Mexican cartels. On the condition on anonymity, several law enforcement personnel from the FBI and other agencies confirmed with Breitbart News that the Aryan Brotherhood's criminal activities are seldom driven by race; their focuses are drug and sex trafficking, as well as murder-for-hire.


The FBI has declassified 156 pages of internal documents that shed light on the inner workings of the Aryan Brotherhood from its inception in the late 1960s through the 1980s. The documents show that the AB is known for engaging in brutal, high-profile killings to impress upon foreign narcotics cartels and other organized crime groups that they are the best organization to handle a domestic US ground game.


The clearest analysis of the AB’s motivations are revealed on page 56:


The purpose of the AB is now power and is not a racial organization as it has been deemed in the past. The AB’s continue to be aligned with members of the Mexican Mafia (EME) and certain motorcycle type inmates. [emphasis added]


This passage refers to the same US-based Mexican Mafia verifiably operating as hitmen and narcotics traffickers for various Mexican Drug cartels. It is the same US-based group that was hired by the Tijuana Cartel to assassinate the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, killing a priest in the process. The FBI documents reveal that the AB has kept an alliance with the US-based Mexican Mafia since 1968. The Mexican Mafia has used the AB as hitmen.


The National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC), a Congressionally-mandated effort led by the FBI, reports that the AB works directly with Mexican cartels. The FBI’s 2011 NGIC report states:


MDTOs (Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations) use street and prison gang members in Mexico, Texas, and California to protect smuggling routes, collect debts, transport illicit goods, including drugs and weapons, and execute rival traffickers...


The report specifically names the Aryan Brotherhood as working with the Mexican drug trafficking groups.


The lack of racial motivations for the AB is also indicated by the handbook of another prison-based organized crime group known as the Aryan Circle. The Aryan Circle is a splinter group that, by their own admission, broke away from the AB due to a the AB’s lack of racial motivations.


Other declassified FBI documents reveal the Aryan Circle’s handbook to assert:


The organization [Aryan Circle] was put together by a group of men who were fed up with other organizations within the system who claimed to be for the White race, but were in reality nothing more than radical prison gangs.


Another clear indicator of the lack of racial motivations or operational restrictions regarding the AB was reported in a 2010 article by the Hispanic news source La Opinion. They quoted Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Eric Ruble as stating:


In prison, divisions and racial problems are still strong, but on the street, the structure is different. Now it’s based on a union of power and economics where racial divisions are unnecessary.


The 156 pages of declassified FBI documents also reveal that the AB has an alliance with La Costra Nostra, otherwise known as the Italian mob. There is evidence on Page 41 that the AB has served as the Italian mob's hitmen inside prison walls. Also, according to the documents, the Aryan Brotherhood comprised an elite "hit squad" for assassinations that took place on the outside.


It is also revealed on page 43 of the FBI documents that a Thai national solicited the Aryan Brotherhood to assist him with a heroin running business.


The publicly available documents illustrate that the Aryan Brotherhood has aggressively pursued alliances with larger and more powerful crime organizations throughout its history. They have smuggled, trafficked, and killed on behalf of groups of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities in order to turn a profit. They are hired guns (or fists, or knives, or prison shanks, depending on the situation).


It would be convenient for the media if the brutality in Texas turns out to be at the hands of a "white supremacist" group acting alone and on racial grounds. What would be less convenient is if a "white supremacist" group turned out to be working in conjunction with Mexican drug cartels in the middle of a politically charged debate on U.S. immigration policy.


Photo: MS-13 is another independent gang which works for Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Image credit: BorderLandBeat


Thursday, March 28, 2013

What do bright college students have to worry about? Part 1




In the past 2 years, I have seen a sharp increase in the number of U.S. Citizen college students targeted
by human trafficking. I also hear from victims that sex traffickers are lurking around high school and
middle school campuses. After the many campus shootings and the other dangers parents warn their
children about before sending them away from home for the first time it is unlikely that most parents
are discussing the tactics of “romeo pimps” with the daughters who have achieved academic success.

I have worked with more and more families as the hopes and dreams for their daughters are crushed –
the parents have been blindsided by an evil they may never have known existed.

The tactics used are that the recruiter will find a target, he will then create some sort of friendship or
romantic connection.

During this early grooming period he will learn all he can about the victim and she will tell him EVERYTHING. Her hopes, dreams, fears disappointments, every disagreement with her friends, parents teachers, etc.

While she believes he is listening to her out of affection, he is listening for ammunition to carry out his plan.

He will begin to introduce her to his shadowy life and it will appear alluring and a bit mystical- especially to a naïve academic who has spent most of her time preparing for college.

He will learn what she thinks about sex, religion, her parents, grandparents, her embarrassing moments and her highest achievements.

This he will then use to distance and isolate her from her life and into his.

To be continued-

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

10 years of protecting victims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act-





I began working on the issue of human trafficking in 2003. At that time little was understood about this crime and all its complex schemes. Now in the tenth year since I have worked on this issue and 13 years after the first laws to protect victims were passed these has been much learned.

First, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act is a solid and well written law. However it is often not used because many do not clearly understand it or have not been trained on it. In the 10 years I have used it to help victims, each time when the law is used correctly, it has helped the victims and clearly identified the traffickers. The problem is that traffickers use various schemes to operate openly, in plain sight, and many who do not work on trafficking daily may miss opportunities. However I am seeing more and more cases that are netting significant punishments in criminal courts and civil courts. This is hopeful, however, that should be thousands of cases, not just the handfuls we are seeing now. 

All the cases are important to progress and will pave the way for more suits in the future. We must bring attention to the successes as they happen and keep sharing them with others. I am hopeful that more prosecutors and civil trial attorneys will use these laws and demonstrate how strong the laws are to protect victims and punish traffickers. It is my hope that soon anyone convicted of pimping, or charges related to exploited labor, would also be convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced accordingly.

When this law is used appropriately and to its fullest extent the community becomes safer for victims and more unwelcoming for traffickers.

Actions EVERYONE can take to make this law used more often are:
  • Share this blog- the TVPA is hyperlinked above- 
  • Learn about cases in your area by visiting Global Incident Map
  • Write opinion pieces for your local papers or trade organizations about 500-750 words is appropriate 
  • Blog- please share cases that have been prosecuted and show successful outcomes so more people will expect the TPVA to be used 
  • Make sure all around you know that ANY MINOR IN COMMERCIAL SEX (stripping, pornography or prostitution) is a victim of sex trafficking 
  • Follow me on Facebook and LinkedIN@Dottie Laster, on Twitter @TRAFFCKED- we share stories and current events here- please post and share to your contacts 
  • Host a public awareness event, workshop or training by contacting Delilah@imaginepubicity.com or 843-808-0859
  • Individual consultations may be referred to Laster Global Consulting