The Green Hornet

The Human Cost of Modern Day Slavery

keith bickford

Close your eyes and think about your own particular basic needs. Who can decide which way you want to satisfy them; where you live, what you eat, where you work, what time you get up and go to bed, when and where you will take a bath, what you do with the money you earn and who will be there for you when you need them?

Now, imagine you are a vulnerable young child whose home situation leads you to run because no alternative exists in your mind. You end up on the streets of Portland. You are prey for pimps who convince you that they can help you satisfy your basic needs. You eventually get arrested for prostitution, but in truth, you are a victim of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Now imagine you are an adult, suddenly living in a country where you do not speak the language. You do not know the laws. You are afraid of law enforcement, in fact you are there illegally, all because you crave the opportunity for a better life. Someone sees you on the street, sidles up to you and says, in your native language, "You look like you need some help. Let me." You end up working endless hours for low pay, always under the threat of being turned in to an immigration officer. You keep working because you don't want to go back to the horror you've left behind. You are a victim of human trafficking for forced labor.

Both of these scenarios happen every single day, right in our own backyard, so says Multnomah County Sheriff Office's Deputy, Keith Bickford.

When Bickford started as State of Oregon Human Trafficking Coordinator in October, 2007, he discovered that runaways arrested for underage prostitution were treated as criminals by the juvenile justice system, from the time of their arrest until their placement with the Department of Human Services. Even though state and federal laws dictate that any sexually exploited child under the age of 18 is automatically a victim of human trafficking. "You cannot arrest a victim," Bickford explained. Placed in foster care or in a shelter, their first instinct is to run. "They're in the front and out the back," Bickford told me. These girls have been brainwashed by their pimps, coached how to talk to law enforcement, how to avoid law enforcement, and what to do if caught. This happens even though state and federal laws dictate that any sexually exploited child under the age of 18 is automatically a victim of human trafficking. By November, Bickford had juvenile justice judges, counselors, and police officers reassessing the situation. "We've changed how these girls are treated," he said, a smile flitting across his face. "We've made progress. The victims now get help."

Certain girls do OK in a less secure environment like Foster Care, says Bickford. Others with a long history of running need more secure facilities. Juvenile justice and DHS are working on just such a place. Bickford has also contacted a non-profit, Transitions Global, which builds secure shelters all over the world. These shelters serve to protect underage girls who are victims of human trafficking. Surprised at the Human Trafficking problem in Portland, Transitions Global has been working for a year to put a shelter in the metropolitan area. "The problem in the United States is the red tape. The laws need to be changed," Bickford explained. "It's a frustrating process, but we're getting closer."

Nationally, one out of every three runaways, male or female, will be contacted by a pimp within 48 hours of leaving home. "These runaways are hunted down by pimps, but pimps also go after stable families' daughters," Bickford explained, adding, "One pimp described high schools as a buffet of potential girls for him to pimp out." But he assures that the U.S. Attorney and the District Attorney plan to prosecute "any and all cases" in 2009.

Bickford settled back into the chair and changed gears, talking about Portland and the human trafficking that goes on here, in the name of forced labor. "This is the international side of human trafficking," he said. "The issue is that the United States is the go-to nation for people who want to make a better life for themselves or their families. They come here from everywhere, and they do not want to go back." Home doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does for many Americans. We think of home as a place with running water, an indoor bathroom, food, heat, electricity. At home we feel safe. For those who leave another country and come to the United States, the difference in the definition of home can be mind-boggling. It can be a place riddled with war, poverty, disease, corruption in government and law enforcement, maybe even a devastating natural disaster. "Some of my victims have left their country for one of those reasons, and they can't go back because their own family members have the right to kill them as a 'crime of honor,'" Bickford explained.

So they come to the United States, hope-driven to come to a place even though they don't speak the language or understand the laws. They are scared of law enforcement. And they are here illegally. With these four strikes against them, each one becomes the perfect human trafficking victim. "What they don't realize," Bickford explained, "is that once you step onto American soil, you automatically have rights."

It goes without saying that in order to have a victim you must have a perpetrator, someone willing to prey on others. Bickford pointed out that you must not underestimate human traffickers. "They are extraordinarily versed in human psychology ... they know these people are already scared," he said. "They offer help, but in sheep's clothing, a place to stay, a job. They say, 'I speak your language.'"

How do forced labor human traffickers find their victims? Some of it is set up in their victims' home countries. For instance, a village in Africa has found out it's targeted for a deadly attack. Parents in such a situation are easy prey for those who say they can get their children to the United States where they will be safe. The children might end up as domestic help in someone's home, taking care of children not much younger than they are. If old enough, they could end up working in restaurants. No matter the situation, they work long, low-paid hours, threatened with immigration. Unfortunately, it's not just the human traffickers who say, "You're mine. I own you. I'll call Immigration on you," says Bickford. Often it is the employers who threaten them with their lack of papers.

When he first got this job, Bickford didn't know how to find these victims. Over the last eighteen months he's developed a method that works for him. First Bickford contacted immigration firms where he discovered a lot of decent people trying to help these victims. "With these immigration attorneys I have to win their trust so that they know I'm not there to send away those who need help," Bickford told me. "I probably have 20-25 individual immigration attorneys that trust me, and that number grows every week, by word of mouth. I can sleep at night, I feel better, but because I am the one they trust, my workload has increased when I'm the one called to do an interview. I'm still glad."

Bickford discovered limited resources for these victims. "What I've had to do on this job is make something out of nothing. There is no money or services, but plenty of victims," he said. He's come up with several options while working within the revised guidelines of the human trafficking grant that funds his work. Along with the help of his grant policy advisor, Bickford formed three different task forces. One is focused on law enforcement, including agencies like the FBI and local patrols. The second task force deals only with underage prostitution, and the third one consists of an ever increasing number of immigration attorneys. Bickford also has grant funds to build a human trafficking Web site which is already in the works. Plans for it include a section with victim interviews and a section with basic information about human trafficking in several different languages. "It will be educational," Bickford told me, "for those who think they know a victim. It will tell them what to do with that information and for victims themselves. It will include a way to ask for help, outlining all of their options in detail."

Within the community, Bickford has found some existing sources of help, such as Catholic Charities (503-542-2855). "They offer all sorts of help including immigration law help and basic services." The relationship he's developed with them is strong. They trust his desire to help their client victims, not to deport them. Through Catholic Charities he's been able to develop a monthly meeting with several Russian and Romanian immigration attorneys, something he knows would have never happened otherwise. Bickford also works in the large Hispanic farming community through an indigenous farm workers program in Hillsboro. He is also in contact with the Eastside Foursquare Church. Bickford's hopes are high that he will be able to work out an arrangement with the church to provide emergency shelter for human trafficking victims. The church owns a motel, and Bickford is working to obtain a single room to be on stand-by, hopefully by summer, 2009.

One more important thing that Bickford has learned during his time on the job is that numerous people all across the tri-county area want to help. When asked, "What can I do to help?" Bickford explains the need for emergency donations; money or items. Bickford has received enough monetary donations to open an account so that he readily assists juveniles and adults with food, clothing, prescription drugs, child care and bus fare. As far as donations of items, Bickford says, "Right now my office looks like a Bed, Bath and Beyond," chuckling as he listed essential items ready to be given to those in need, from toothbrushes to telephones. Bickford has also decided to make his office phone, 503-251-2479, a help number for human trafficking victims.

What will it take to stop human trafficking? Work by law enforcement and government, and involvement by citizens' groups, churches, and each of us. The cost of ignoring this modern day slavery is too high.

If you would like to help or learn more, please email Deputy Keith Bickford or call 503-251-2479.