Human Trafficking from Mesoamerica to Florida, U.S.

Human Trafficking from Southern Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala:
Why These Victims are Trafficked into Modern Day Florida
by
Timothy Adam Golob

ABSTRACT
Florida is ranked as one of the United States’ top three destination states for human trafficking; many of those victims originate from Mesoamerica—Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Human trafficking is a growing problem which hinders universal human rights for hundreds of new victims in Florida every year. Mesoamericans have a high risk of becoming victims due to the situations in their home countries. The issue of human trafficking has only recently gained the
national and state attention of law makers and law enforcement officers. This study uses several human trafficking cases to educate and exemplify why Mesoamerican victims are selected and how human trafficking takes place in Florida. The results of this study demonstrate that traffickers use their knowledge of victims and victims’ societies to lure and then enslave them in to sex and labor trafficking. This research uses criminal cases to illustrate the conditions of the enslavement of human trafficking victims, the methods used by the traffickers, and the culmination of the court
cases for both victims and perpetrators. Furthermore, it provides points of discussion to initiate future research and to guide legislature and law enforcement in methods to end this barrier to universal human rights.

1
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Brimming with theme parks, cruises, museums, and other area attractions, Florida is the tourist and family fun center of the United States. However, these attractions shadow the darker side of lorida; it ranks third in the nation for the greatest prevalence of human trafficking. Many victims of human trafficking rescued in the state of Florida are Mesoamerican, from Southern Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Often, many of the traffickers are from this same region as well. In 1948,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promised that life and liberty are universal and cannot be withdrawn or abated (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/). It states in Article 4 that, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” Yet, more than six decades later thousands of Mesoamericans are enslaved and exploited in the
state of Florida. Read Article/Paper