In recent decades the issue of human trafficking into the United States has been an issue of contention in political debates. The southern border with Mexico is the primary channel through which illegal immigrants (most of them of Hispanic origin from Central American countries) attempt to sneak into the confines of the world’s most prosperous nation. In spite of this trend of human trafficking across borders going on for more than two decades, the government has done nothing substantial to curb it. Probably this is in recognition of the fact that without cheap labor provided by millions of such immigrants, it is difficult to sustain an economy as big as that of the United States. While these impoverished people from South and Central America get into the United States in order to improve their economic wellbeing, evidence suggests that they barely get past acute poverty and only manage to survive. Despite being the richest nation on earth, a significant portion of its inhabitants live below the poverty line. A large portion of them are recently arrived illegal immigrants, who find disillusionment and further misery on their arrival into the country through illegal channels (Lybecker, 2008). This essay will argue that while human trafficking is not solely responsible for poverty in the United States, it does contribute to the growing pool of poor people and is a manifestation of the dark side of the global capitalist economy.
Firstly, poverty and homelessness in the United States can be traced back a long way. Even long before political discourse about illegal immigration started, there has been constant influx of impoverished and oppressed people into the country. As and when immigrants (legal or illegal) arrive into the confines of the country, they start out as homeless people by default. The direct and circumstantial evidence for this is available in literary and performing arts of the last one and half centuries. Prominent among the artists who dealt with this subject are Walt Whitman, Jack London, Charlie Chaplin, Woody Guthrie, John Dos Passos, Bill Mauldin, Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck. In the early twentieth century slang, homeless, vagabond immigrants were casually referred to as ‘hoboes’, which is a term of denigration. These so-called hoboes had a reputation for being barbaric, wild, lazy and unscrupulous. The first detailed representation of these people living on the fringes of society started appearing after the end of the Civil War. We further learn that
“following the Civil War, a legion of men travelled the country with no visible means of support. Some earned the sobriquet “hobo,” which they embraced it as a nickname for a migrant laborer, that is, a “hoe boy.” Whatever the origin, sociologists of the 1920s used the phrase “hobohemia” to describe a subaltern lifestyle embraced by white working-class males. When congregating in places such as Chicago’s “main stem,” they forged a swaggering counterculture that defied domesticity. They embraced the labor radicalism of the Wobblies, even while they were parodied by vaudeville and motion picture comics.” (Lookingbill, 2005, p.314)
During these early days, homelessness and poverty in the United States was largely an issue of social class and was caused by the huge disparities in wealth distribution between the top ten percent of the population and the rest. But in the last century, the issue has grown to encompass factors of racial discrimination, drug abuse and homosexuality. A case in point is the systemic discrimination meted out to the African American population, who are the first group to be trafficked as slaves into the United States from Africa. Despite comprising only 13 percent of the total U.S. Population, blacks outnumber whites among the poor. This disproportion is a result of historical injustices committed against the African American community, who are subject to discrimination of various forms even today (Jokisch, 2006).
Through African Americans were the first group that was trafficked into the United States, in recent years the illegal immigrants from Latin America has been the primary contributor for this phenomenon. The influx of Latino immigrants (most of them trafficked through illegal channels) during the course of the twentieth century was predominantly from regions such as Mexico and other Central American countries. Of course, the last two decades have seen unprecedented number of Latino immigrants being trafficked to states such as California from all parts of Central America. A good indicator of the second class status given to Latinos is reflected in the fact that they have retained their native cultures and language even after living many years in the United States. The distinct Hispanic culture and the associated Spanish language are signs of this community’s social exclusion from the American melting pot. For example, a majority of Latinos in the state of California still cannot speak proper English. This also has the added disadvantages of making them ineligible for white collar jobs and upward social mobility. In this regard, the fortunes of the community have not changed much over the course of the last century. They remain oppressed and poor now as they were during the turbulent forties and fifties (Lybecker, 2008).
Collectively called the emerging Hispanic American population, it is comprised of culturally distinct groups such as Mexican Americans, Peurto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans and El Salvadoran Americans. Of all the four groups, Mexican Americans stand out in terms of their involvement in mainstream American politics. The dissenting voices of Mexican Americans were first heard during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Although African Americans were predominantly seen as the leaders of the movement, significant contributions were made by such Mexican American luminaries as V. Mendoza, Reies Lopez Tijerina and Rodolfo Gonzales. Their political activism ranged from basic rights for farm workers to rights of electoral franchise at all levels of governance. (Jokisch, 2006) Parallels could be observed in Puerto Rican American history as well. One of the more recent immigrants to the country, Puerto Ricans are poorly represented in politics. However, to their credit, they succeeded in forming trade unions to demand for worker rights during the second half of the twentieth century. Given such an initiation, it is only natural that their worker movement graduated into a socialist one. Given the strong capitalist roots in America, this movement did not make much impact though. (Jokisch, 2006)
Any description of Cuban Americans will have to be made in the context of Cuba’s hostile political relation with the United States. The primary reason for migration through human trafficking to their more affluent neighboring country is economic opportunity. Yet, the totalitarian and sometimes repressive regime of Fidel Castro would mean that the migrants are also political asylum seekers. Hence, the acculturated Americans view Cuban Americans as ‘outsiders’. This perception had not helped the community in their genuine efforts toward cultural assimilation. (Hope Cheong, 2006) A recent survey found that most El Salvadorian Americans intend to go back home once the political situation stabilizes there. It would not be exaggeration to say that this community lives in a world of its own oblivious of the socio-political developments around them. Hence their political participation in the United States is most minimal and their condition the most deprived. (Frykholm, 2007) Of all the Hispanic groups being trafficked into the country, the El Salvadorians are the most economically impoverished. This is understandable given the fact that most El Salvadorian migrants escape grinding poverty and a war-ravaged native environment. The El Salvadorians also maintain links with their relatives back home, for whom a regular remittance from the United States can mean life or death. The immigration policies of the United States government over the last few decades had grown considerable stringent. Most El Salvadorian immigrants to the U.S. do not gain recognition legally as a result. (Jokisch, 2006)
In many ways, the Civil Rights movement of the early 1960’s was an important historical mass movement in that it galvanized racial and ethnic minorities in a show of solidarity against injustices incurred to their lot. Economic opportunities being the prime motive behind their northbound migration to the United States, the community is essentially working class – casual laborers and blue collar workers. While they may have seen relative prosperity coming from an underdeveloped Central American country, their participation in the political and economic system in their adopted land has only been marginal. While the civil rights movement saw greater concessions given to minority communities, the Latinos were not benefited due to this change. Since large number of Latinos in California and elsewhere are illegal immigrants they don’t have any basic political entitlements that the rest of the minorities enjoy Further, the lack of political entitlements translates into corporate exploitation, as illegal workers do not have recourse to courts for earning below the levels of minimum wages. In contrast, the African American community, which does not have a big presence in California, does fall within the purview of minimum wage legislations and to the extent are more fortunate. Hence, it is a fact that human trafficking into the United States is intricately related to poverty and suffering. (Espenshade, 1996)
Every minority group in the United States had faced discrimination of some sort throughout their brief histories in the country and the case of Italian Americans is no different. Although this community cannot be said to have been ‘trafficked’ into the United States the way Africans and Latinos were trafficked, their struggles have many parallels. And although mass migration of Italian into the United States took place earlier than that of Latin Americans, their histories are similar in that they had to confront discrimination and prosecution upon their arrival. The prevailing political circumstances toward the end of the nineteenth century made the Italian immigrant group more participatory in labor activities. Their presence was first noticed in the labor movements of New York. Their native rural background acted as a deterrent in unionizing. Yet, under the leadership of the pre-eminent Socialist Salvatore Ninfo, Italian construction laborers working on subway projects went on strike. Once this precedent was set, other landmark events in the Italian labor activism followed. These include the 1909 protests of Italian dressmakers and the 1910 strikes of clock makers, shirt makers and small-time artisans (Nelson, 1996).
This tumultuous and most influential period of the history of Italian Americans also saw the trial and execution of Vanzetti and Sacco. Their sudden and brutal demise revealed to the community their true standing in American society and prompted them to fight against all forms of discrimination with greater vehemence. One of the vehicles through which this radical activism took flight was through the Italian American press of the day. For example, the Italian American press succeeded in bringing together all members of the community (subscribing to various political ideologies) under the movement for justice. The lasting legacy of the support for Sacco and Vanzetti, albeit posthumously, lies in the fact that both the luminaries were open advocates of anarchist principles. This goes on to show how the motivation to struggle and achieve greater common good overpowered minor hindrances in the form of political and economic positions to bring lasting changes in the American judicial landscape in regard to basic civil rights. It has to be added, that, the Italian American agitation following the execution of Vanzetti and Sacco was one of many parallel streams of activism seen at this period. Though the various streams dealt with different aspects of the impending change, they were all connected at the core by their vision of a more amicable American society (Trasciatti, 2003).
In the case of Italian American immigration into the United States, not only were they made to face discrimination from outside, but also within their group. There is a long record of how the Northern Italians looked down upon Italians from down south, especially from Sicily. There were many factors contributing to this outcome. The southerners were slightly dark skinned and their way of is more agrarian compared to the industrial north. Hence the identity of Italian immigrants in the United States cannot solely be attached to immigration and subsequent integration into the society. In other words, the southern Italians (also called Black Italians) had to fight discrimination twice over. And that onerous task is reflected in the degree of success attained by this subgroup in assimilating into the mainstream American representation today (Quinn, 2004).
And any discussion of human trafficking into the United States would be incomplete without mentioning commercial sexual exploitation.
“The largest subset of human trafficking is sexual trafficking–the trafficking of young women and children for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. Among those trafficked internationally, estimates indicate that approximately 50 percent are children and 70 percent to 80 percent are female. Among females, roughly 70 percent are trafficked for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation (U.S. Department of State, 2004). In addition to representing the largest component of human trafficking, sexual trafficking has grown dramatically over the past decade.” (Hodge, 2008)
The State Department further estimates that close to 16,000 people are trafficked into the USA each year and an additional number are trafficked within the border. The sale of trafficked young women and girls is commercially very lucrative for those perpetrating it. After narcotics and arms sales, trafficking is estimated to be the largest source of revenue for organized crime. Moreover, women forced into prostitution “earn profits for their pimps for a number of years, unlike the profits earned from narcotics, which are sold and used once. The vast majority of revenue generated by trafficked women remains in the hands of pimps while the women retain little or none of the money they earn in the sex industry.” (Hodge, 2008) This further goes to show that trafficking is always associated with poverty and is seldom beneficial for those being trafficked. In the case of sexual trafficking, “few women choose to work in the sex industry when other options exist, and many women suffer physical or mental breakdowns from engaging in unwanted sexual activity multiple times per day with strangers. Brothel owners, pornography producers, and pimps place orders for women and children that, in turn, are filled by traffickers.” (Hodge, 2008)
But despite such dismal realities, there is also room for optimism as statistics pertaining to the last few years have also shown a reduction in the number of homeless and poor people in the United States. For example, close to 1.6 million people were forced to make use of emergency shelters and temporary housing at certain times in the last couple of years. But the good news is that during the same period the number of chronically homeless fell 28 percent (Fagan, 2008). These are positive developments indeed and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has to be commended for bringing about this improvement. But still, seen in absolute terms, the number of temporary and chronically homeless and poor continues to be worrisome. And a majority of the homeless and poor happen to be trafficked into the United States. A concerted effort on part of related government agencies, elected representatives and not-for-profit organizations is essential to bring a lasting solution to the twin issues of human trafficking and poverty in America. (Burt, 2003)
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