Victory! Human Trafficking Victims Released by LAPD

by Lauren Markham · 2011-01-20 06:00:00 UTC
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This December, we wrote about the wrongful imprisonment of eighty victims of human trafficking arrested during a thinly-veiled immigration raid at an L.A. hostess club. While the patrons went home scot-free and the club reopened within the week (even soliciting more replacement "dancers" on Craigslist), eighty women were detained due to their lack of immigration papers.

Due to the advocacy efforts of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA),  Ms. Magazine, and Change.org (with over 1,300 Change.org community members signing our petition), the 78 women arrested at Club 907 were finally set free — after over two months of wrongful imprisonment.

There were many troubling factors in this case. First, the law prohibits local police from instigating police action for the express purposes of  an immigration raid, and yet the LAPD did not arrest anyone but the paperless workers, and turned a number of these women directly over to ICE.

Second, and perhaps even more horrifying, is the extent to which these women — many of whom were working in inhumane conditions and/or trafficked for labor and sex — were viewed expressly as criminals, rather than as victims, despite their testimonies of worker abuse. In a diverse metropolis like L.A. that has seen trafficking cases time and time again (LAPD even has a special task force on human trafficking, for Pete's sake), the police simply should have known better. You can still sign the petition to tell the LAPD to investigate trafficking at Club 907 and train its officers on recognizing signs of human trafficking.

Okay, so it's a little funny to shout "Victory!" just because the law enforcement finally did the right thing. But the fact is, in the world of human trafficking, the victims are often treated as the criminals. We're happy that in this case, the LAPD finally got the picture. Thanks to all of you who helped make this change happen.

Photo Credit: SoulRider 222

Lauren Markham lives in her native Bay Area where she is a writer, educator and immigrant rights advocate, working for Refugee Transitions and the Oakland Unified School district.

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