[Senate Hearing 115-328]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-328
THE GAO REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE UNITED
STATES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
31-534 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office,
http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center,
U.S. Government Publishing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free).
E-mail, [email protected].
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota, Chairman
TOM UDALL, New Mexico, Vice Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona JON TESTER, Montana,
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska AL FRANKEN, Minnesota
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
STEVE DAINES, Montana HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
MIKE CRAPO, Idaho CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
T. Michael Andrews, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Jennifer Romero, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on September 27, 2017............................... 1
Statement of Senator Cortez Masto................................ 48
Statement of Senator Flake....................................... 47
Statement of Senator Franken..................................... 5
Statement of Senator Heitkamp.................................... 8
Statement of Senator Hoeven...................................... 1
Statement of Senator McCain...................................... 8
Statement of Senator Murkowski................................... 6
Statement of Senator Schatz...................................... 7
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Statement of Senator Tester...................................... 5
Statement of Senator Udall....................................... 4
Witnesses
Goodwin, Gretta L., Ph.D., Director, Homeland Security and
Justice Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office.......... 9
Prepared statement........................................... 11
Matthews, Nicole, Executive Director, Minnesota Indian Women's
Sexual Assault Coalition....................................... 28
Prepared statement........................................... 30
McCain, Cindy, Co-Chair, Arizona Governor's Human Trafficking
Council........................................................ 32
Prepared statement........................................... 34
Thompson, Jason, Acting Deputy Director, Justice Services, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior............. 24
Prepared statement........................................... 27
Toulou, Tracy, Director, Office of Tribal Justice, U.S.
Department of Justice.......................................... 20
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Appendix
Barrasso, Hon. John, U.S. Senator From Wyoming, prepared
statement...................................................... 53
Kear, Alison, Executive Director, Covenant House Alaska, prepared
statement...................................................... 53
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez-
Masto to:
Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D...................................... 57
Jason Thompson............................................... 60
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Tracy Toulou................................................... 61
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to:
Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D...................................... 55
Cindy McCain................................................. 62
Jason Thompson............................................... 58
Written questions submitted by Hon. Hon. Catherine Cortez-Masto
to:
Nicole Matthews.............................................. 66
Tracy Toulou................................................. 66
Written questions submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to:
Nicole Matthews.............................................. 64
Tracy Toulou................................................. 65
THE GAO REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE UNITED
STATES
----------
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:30 p.m. in room
628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Hoeven,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA
The Chairman. We will call this Committee meeting to order.
Good afternoon.
Today, the Committee will hold an oversight hearing on The
GAO Reports on Human Trafficking of Native Americans in the
United States. Previously, the Committee held a listening
session on this important issue in 2014. Now it is time for a
more in-depth examination.
Human trafficking is a truly despicable activity aimed at
exploiting vulnerable people, usually women and girls. It has
been defined as the exploitation of a person typically through
force, fraud or coercion for purposes involving forced labor,
involuntary servitude or commercial sex. The victims affected
by poverty, abuse and other crimes may not have anywhere to
turn and become easy targets.
That is not always the case. Victims may also come from
good families, be educated, but misled, manipulated or
kidnapped by these predators. A difficult crime to detect,
human trafficking is often underreported due to a multitude of
factors. Victims remain hidden from detection, in part, because
they fear either arrest or possible retaliation by their
trafficker.
The invisibility of this crime has led it to become a
multi-billion-dollar illicit industry worldwide. As we will
likely hear today, Indians are considered to be one of the most
vulnerable populations in the Country for a host of reasons.
American Indian and Alaska Native women suffer sexual violence
at the highest rate per capita in the Country, whether it is
trafficking, assault or violent crime.
Recently, a young Native girl in Fargo, North Dakota was
murdered and her baby taken by neighbors. What happened in this
case is beyond tragic and heartbreaking. Unfortunately, the
violence and violent deaths occur far too often among Indian
women and girls. Our joint efforts are needed to fight these
problems.
Just last week in Geneva, Switzerland, Monica Mayer, a
councilwoman from the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota,
addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on the human
trafficking that occurs on tribal lands in the United States
and requested the UN to inquire on this issue.
We will start by examining two Government Accountability
Office reports. The first report was issued on March 30, 2017.
The second report was released on July 24, 2017. These reports
were requested by the former Chair and Vice Chair of this
Committee, Senators Barrasso and Tester, the current Vice
Chairman, Senator Udall, and myself.
The March 30 report provided a thorough review of the
applicable Federal agencies that investigate or prosecute human
trafficking in Indian Country. Three Federal agencies
investigate and prosecute human trafficking-related crimes but
do not require their agents or attorneys to consistently
collect or record the rape or ethnicity of victims.
This information is potentially significant to identifying
trends or tracking other criminal activity. The information in
the reports is only a baseline number for how many victims are
being assisted or served. There are likely more victims that
are unknown and remain victimized.
Collection of data is only the first step in addressing
these crimes and helping these victims.
According to the GAO report, there were only two Federal
prosecutions of human trafficking offenses in Indian Country
from 2013 to 2016. Based on the testimony submitted to the
Committee, that is not enough, especially in light of what we
already know.
We know that the Department of Health and Human Services
collects data for victims of human trafficking. We also know
that the Department of Homeland Security can tell us almost
everything about an individual victim's identity but why not
the rest of our law enforcement partners?
The disturbing conclusion from these reports indicates that
it is really tough to confirm the extent of the trafficking
problem in Indian Country without more data and better metrics.
Without knowing the extent of the problem, it is much more
difficult to adequately address it.
This data identification really starts with the Department
of Justice. To date, the agency has been unwilling to collect
that data and track this data on Native Americans, something we
will inquire about and discuss today.
How is it that agencies can collect data on non-Indian
traffickers in this Country, especially those victims coming
from Eastern Europe and Asia but however, the same agencies
cannot track the activities in Indian Country for tribes and
for the people where there is a trust responsibility.
We have had this similar issue with the Department of
Justice. As a result, we have determined to look into it
through data collection requirements in the Tribal Law and
Order Act. The Tribal Law and Order Act, TLOA, is legislation
we will be introducing again and working to reauthorize in this
Congress.
It is important that the agencies track the appropriate
data and adequately investigate and prosecute these crimes.
This legislation is designed to help make sure we do that.
The July 24 report provides the perspective from the law
enforcement agencies and victims service providers as they
encountered human trafficking in Indian Country or of Indians.
Over 350 participants from across the Country completed the GAO
survey.
The most significant item in the second report is the
inability to identify human trafficking by law enforcement. For
example, an individual may be arrested and prosecuted for
prostitution instead of being recognized as a victim of
trafficking.
In addition, the second report noted the reluctance for
victims to participate in the investigations and the
prosecutions. The survey also indicated that more training and
resources are required to increase awareness and victim
services as well as victim and trafficking activity
identification and reporting.
To address victims assistance and services, today I have
introduced Senate Bill 1870, the Securing Urgent Resources
Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment, better known as the SURVIVE
Act. Senators McCain, Heitkamp, Daines, Cortez Masto, Franken,
Tester and Barrasso also join me in co-sponsoring this
legislation.
The SURVIVE Act seeks to address the high victimization
rates, authorizing tribal-specific services and infrastructure
vital to victims in Indian Country. The SURVIVE Act does three
things. First, it would create a tribal grant program that
includes a five percent set aside from Victims of Crime Fund
for Indian tribes to assist victims and offer critical services
for crime victims in their communities.
Second, it would require a negotiated rulemaking between
tribes and the Department of Justice on how the program should
be administered. Third, it allows tribes to use funding for
culturally-specific resources to care for victims. Tribes need
that flexibility to tailor their services for the victims in
the community as well as build much needed capacity to
administer victim services.
I intend to hold hearings on the bill as well as the Tribal
Law and Order reauthorization next month. I urge Congress, the
Administration and Indian Country to get behind both bills and
see them signed into law in this Congress.
In addition, on September 21, 2017, I joined Vice Chairman
Udall and seven other members of this Committee in sending a
letter to the Department of the Interior, the Department of
Health and Human Services and the National Indian Gaming
Commission. The letter requested these agencies provide
additional training for employees to recognize and respond to
activities involving human trafficking and domestic violence. I
want to thank the Vice Chairman for his efforts on this letter.
In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses today. Again, thank you very much for being here. We
appreciate it. We look forward to your recommendations on how
we can improve the work of the agencies and your
recommendations to address the problem of human trafficking of
Indian people.
I want to welcome all our witnesses which I will do in a
minute. But first, I am going to turn to the Vice Chairman,
Senator Udall, for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. TOM UDALL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Senator Udall. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven, for holding this
oversight hearing to discuss GAO's reports on human trafficking
of Native Americans in the United States.
Human trafficking affects every community, regardless of
age, gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic background. GAO's
latest reports highlight challenges around tracking, combating,
and responding to human trafficking in Indian Country.
These reports also reveal that Native American human
trafficking victims have an overwhelming need for more
supportive services, including health care. As I reviewed the
report published by our witness, Ms. Matthews' organization,
the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, I was
struck by the alarming statistics.
Forty-eight percent of Native victims in Minnesota do not
have access to sufficient health care. Fifty-eight percent
reported needing substance abuse treatment. Seventy-five
percent requested greater access to counseling and mental
health services. Native victims' services are plainly hurt by
the lack of access to quality health care in Indian Country.
As the members of this Committee, and all the members of
this Committee, understand these challenges and are very active
in working to resolve them. Yet, the Senate almost considered
legislation yesterday that would have clawed back health care
advances for Native Americans.
The Cassidy repeal bill would have slashed funding to
Medicaid services provided under Medicaid. Services provided
under Medicaid are exactly the types of medical and mental
health services most needed by human trafficking victims. The
bill would have dismantled Federal guarantees for essential
health benefits like behavioral health.
While I am glad the GOP leadership decided not to vote on
the bill, we must remain vigilant to ensure that any future
health care bill does not cut into the health care needs of
human trafficking victims in Indian Country or undermine the
Federal Government's obligation to meet its trust and treaty
obligations to tribes. For years, tribal leaders and Native
activists have reminded us of these obligations by sharing
their powerful and often heartbreaking human trafficking
stories, reminding this Committee of the need for more
information and resources to combat human trafficking in Indian
Country.
We must work together to ensure that Native victims of
human trafficking get the support they urgently need and to
provide Federal and law enforcement agencies with enough
resources to keep Indian Country safe.
The Federal Government could do more now to help Native
victims who are slipping through the cracks. Federal agencies
should do all they can to collect and monitor data on human
trafficking in Indian Country. In doing so, they should be held
accountable for working with tribal governments to end human
trafficking and to make sure these data gathering efforts do
not jeopardize victim confidentiality.
In the long term, individuals working in Indian Country,
including BIA law enforcement, IHS health care providers and
Indian gaming personnel must receive proper training to spot,
stop and respond to human trafficking in communities they
serve.
I strongly believe that interagency coordination through
training will be critical to effectively address human
trafficking. That is why last week, I, along with Chairman
Hoeven and Senators McCain, Cantwell, Tester, Franken, Schatz,
Heitkamp and Cortez Masto, wrote to DOI, HHS and the National
Indian Gaming Commission calling on them to provide more
education to their employees on how to identify human
trafficking and domestic violence victims.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Vice Chairman Udall.
I will turn to other members for opening statements. I
would also like to inform Admiral McCain that I will turn to
him to also introduce one of our witnesses. He can pick one but
only one, whichever one he wants but, you may want to hold your
opening statement until we turn to you for the introduction.
Are there other opening statements before we proceed?
Senator Tester.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank you and the Vice Chairman for holding this
important hearing.
I was one of those that requested the GAO report back in
2015, so I am glad we are taking up this issue today. Hopefully
the White House and Congress can work together to tackle what I
believe is a very, very serious issue.
The Chairman talked about the SURVIVE Act and the
components of it. I want to touch on one of them, the five
percent tribal set aside for tribal governments.
I have talked face to face with tribal leaders around the
Country. I can tell you when money flows through the States,
sometimes it does not get to the tribal government, so it is
long past the time we deal directly government-to-government
with local tribes and get that money on the ground where it can
do the most good to help survivors, to hire more policemen, to
have more prevention and prosecute the crimes in Indian
Country.
We all know this on this Committee but what goes on in
Indian Country, if it was going on anywhere else, it would not
be tolerated at all. Consequently, today is the day we are
going to have a conversation about human trafficking and
hopefully tomorrow is the day we will do something about it.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Senator Franken.
STATEMENT OF HON. AL FRANKEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA
Senator Franken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you and the
Vice Chairman for holding this important hearing today.
Thank you to our witnesses for your testimony.
I am honored to introduce Nicole Matthews of Minnesota as a
witness today. Nicole Matthews, a member of the White Earth
Band of Ojibwe, is the Executive Director of the Minnesota
Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, a statewide tribal
coalition for American Indian sexual assault advocates in our
State.
Nicole received her Bachelor of Science Degree at St. Cloud
State University in Applied Psychology including a Minor in
Human Relations and Multicultural Education. Nicole is the
proud mother of three beautiful children, Jasmine, Keora and
Keante. As Nicole has said, her girls give her the strength and
motivation to continue working to end violence perpetrated
against women and children. Nicole's commitment to her
community, to her culture and to her work will shine through
today.
Thank you, Nicole, for your testimony this afternoon. I
hope Nicole and our other witnesses can help us on this
Committee to inform our colleagues in the Senate about the
issue of human trafficking in Native communities. I think that
is a job for us.
Thank you again, Chairman Hoeven and Vice Chairman Udall,
and all the witnesses today toward that end. I look forward to
hearing your testimonies.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Senator Murkowski.
STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
When we had scheduled this hearing back in July, we were
due to have an Alaska witness, Allison Keir. Allison is a good
friend of mine. She is currently the Executive Director of
Covenant House Alaska. Her testimony was provided to the
Committee for the record but I think there are a couple
statements within Allison's testimony that bear repeating here.
Covenant House participated in a human trafficking study, a
multicity study. Out of that study, Alaska respondents reported
more trafficking than both New Orleans and New York. There is
more human trafficking coming out of Anchorage, Alaska than you
see coming out of New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Detroit,
and Atlanta. Some of the most horrific stories they heard were
from trafficking victims in my hometown.
We talk a lot about statistics around here. It seems like
we cannot get away from the horror stats. Twenty-eight percent
of the respondents in the interviews from Covenant House Alaska
were identified as victims of human trafficking. In other
words, in that study, one in four homeless youths in Anchorage,
Alaska were trafficked, one in four homeless youths. Of those,
42 percent were Alaska Natives.
As I look to the issue we have before the Committee, as I
look to our experts and Mrs. McCain, thank you for your
leadership in this, this is something that is as dark, evil and
as insidious as anything that is out there.
I thank you for your efforts, all of you, to help make a
difference. I would like to think that sometimes our geography
allows us to be far enough away that we are away from the
scourge and the evil and yet, I am reminded that sometimes we
are so far away that people think they can get away with it.
They cannot be allowed. We must make sure that the light is
shown brightly on this and work to eradicate it.
Thank you all for what you are doing. I look forward to
testimony this afternoon.
The Chairman. Senator Schatz.
STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII
Senator Schatz. Thank you, Chairman and Vice Chairman Udall
for scheduling this hearing.
I have a longer statement I would like to put in the record
but wanted to point out that when we did research into the
scope of this problem in the State of Hawaii, we talked to the
Honolulu-based anti-trafficking organization, the Pacific
Alliance to Stop Slavery, and they shared with us that of the
child sex trafficking survivors referred to their agency, more
than 90 percent were Native Hawaiian and some as young as 11
years old.
Anything we can do together as a Committee and anything we
can do with our office in terms of convening and learning from
the experts on the panel to try to get at this problem in the
State of Hawaii, I will do whatever I can.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Senator Schatz follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Brian Schatz, U.S. Senator From Hawaii
Thank you, Chairman Hoven and Vice Chairman Udall, for scheduling
this hearing today. I think everyone in this room knows that, when it
comes to gender-based violence, the numbers for Native communities are
always worse. Over 80 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native
women experience violence in their lifetime, including over 50 percent
who have experienced sexual violence. \1\ Human trafficking is no
exception to this trend. Research by the Minnesota Indian Women's
Sexual Assault Coalition found that about half of studied Native women
in prostitution were victims of trafficking. \2\ There is a correlation
with child sexual abuse, as 79 percent of participants had also been
sexually abused as children. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ http://www.niwrc.org/sites/default/files/documents/Resources/
VAWA%20Factsheet.pdf
\2\ http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/pdfs/
Garden_of_Truth_Final_Project_WEB.pdf
\3\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victims of trafficking who are minors face additional challenges.
More than 1,000 victims of child sex trafficking are arrested and
charged with prosecution each year, despite the fact that these victims
are too young to give consent. \4\ This problem has only been growing.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the number of individuals
being charged with child sex trafficking increased by 111 percent
between 2004 and 2013. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://rights4girls.org/wp-content/uploads/r4g/2015/03/No-
Such-Thing-one-pager11.pdf
\5\ https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fpcsecc0413.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We also know that human trafficking is an issue that
disproportionately impacts native youth in particular. The National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates that 1 in 6 of the
18,500 runaways reported to their agency in 2016 were likely sex
trafficking victims. \6\ This is over 3,000 children just last year
alone.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/
Fact_Sheet_Child_Welfare2017.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In my home state, the Hawai`i affiliate of the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children documents approximately 300 runaways per
month. The Honolulu-based anti-trafficking organization, The Pacific
Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS), estimates that 50 to 100 of these 300
children are at a high-risk for trafficking and that 12 to 25 of them,
nearly a quarter, are actually trafficked every month. PASS also notes
that up to 95 percent of the trafficked minors referred to their agency
are Native Hawaiian. These youth range in age from 11 to 18 years old.
While a significant proportion of adult victims of trafficking in
Hawai`i are foreign-born citizens or foreign nationals, child sex
trafficking victims are overwhelmingly US-born children of Native
Hawaiian descent.
This is clearly a huge challenge for Native communities, not only
in Hawaii but across the country. I look forward to hearing more about
the findings of this report, and how we can help by working with Native
communities, governmental entities and grassroots non-profit
organizations.
The Chairman. Senator Heitkamp
STATEMENT OF HON. HEIDI HEITKAMP,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA
Senator Heitkamp. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven and Vice
Chairman Udall for having this hearing.
I have worked to try to improve conditions for Native
children pretty much my entire public life. The scourge of
human trafficking is yet another chapter in ongoing challenges.
I think it is important that as we are looking at this and
thinking about law enforcement, thinking about interventions,
that we begin to look at the root causes of what is actually
happening here.
It is important on this Committee that we not turn a blind
eye to those on the margins and that we address the root cause
that has led many of these victims to be so available and
vulnerable in the first place.
As you all know, human trafficking of Native Americans is
intrinsically linked to historic trauma, to homelessness,
poverty, drug and sexual child abuse and jurisdictional
challenges. The latest challenge we are confronting in Indian
Country is the incredible expansion in the number of children
who are in foster care. We know that foster care children are
particularly vulnerable, especially when they run away.
In Turtle Mountain, a reservation in my State, I was
recently visiting and the tribal chairman there told me just in
a couple years, we have increased the foster care population
from 150 children, which is outrageous to begin with, to 300.
Those are 300 vulnerable children who need our assistance.
We cannot solve this problem by prosecuting alone. We have
to have law enforcement so that these folks cannot act with
impunity and think it is open hunting season. We have to
address the root causes, fundamentally poverty and family
issues and issues of child sex abuse, drug abuse and all the
things that make our children very, very vulnerable.
The work of this Committee goes beyond anti-trafficking, it
goes beyond simply what we are talking about today. Everything
we do to build resilience within Indian Country is an anti-
trafficking move.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. I will turn to Senator McCain for any opening
statement as well as his introduction.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN McCAIN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator McCain. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
holding today's oversight hearing on the human trafficking of
American Indians and Alaska Natives.
I am proud and humbled to introduce my wife, Cindy, who
will be testifying about her many years of experience combating
trafficking and her difficulties in our marriage.
[Laughter.]
Senator Franken. Give her more than the five minutes then.
[Laughter.]
Senator McCain. Thank you very much for inviting her.
As has already eloquently been said by other members, human
trafficking enslaves an estimated 41 million people in the
United States and abroad. Traffickers, as we all know, target
the most vulnerable and at-risk individuals in our society.
Tragically, that includes Native women and children.
Websites like backpage.com are knowingly exploiting Native
Americans and Alaska Natives. I am thankful that a number of my
colleagues in the Senate are working on legislation like the
Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act to hold on-line traffickers
accountable for their crimes.
Today, the Committee will hear from the Government
Accountability Office about the lack of Federal data on
trafficking cases involving Natives. I look forward to hearing
GAO's testimony and the testimony of the other witnesses.
I would just like to add, Mr. Chairman, this is a special
issue with our Committee given the trafficking that goes across
our Mexican-Arizona border. It is rampant and as the situations
become more and more involved with things like opioids, human
trafficking goes right along with it. I am sure the Chairman
and the Senator from New Mexico are very aware. This problem is
getting a lot worse than better.
I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman and Vice Chairman, for
your leadership on this issue. There are very few things as
gripping as seeing these young girls who are entrapped and
enslaved, usually drugs being a big part of that entrapment.
I thank you for holding the hearing. I want to thank all my
colleagues for their commitment to a lot of young people who
are not able to defend themselves.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
We will now turn to our witnesses. First, we have Dr.
Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D., Director of Homeland Security and
Justice Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office. We also
have Mr. Tracy Toulou, Director, Office of Tribal Justice, U.S.
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Mr. Jason Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Justice Services, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; Ms. Nicole Matthews,
Executive Director, Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault
Coalition, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Mrs. Cindy McCain, Co-
Chair, Arizona Governor's Human Trafficking Council, Phoenix,
Arizona.
We will start with you, Ms. Goodwin. Thank you for being
here.
STATEMENT OF GRETTA L. GOODWIN, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, HOMELAND
SECURITY AND JUSTICE ISSUES, U.S.
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Ms. Goodwin. Chairman Hoeven, Ranking Member Udall, and
members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here today to
discuss GAO's recent reports on human trafficking in Indian
Country or involving Native Americans.
Human trafficking is the exploitation of a person through
force, fraud or coercion for such purposes as forced labor,
involuntary servitude or commercial sex. Trafficking victims
span all age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship
and nationality categories. Human trafficking takes place
throughout the Country and often involves victims who are
already vulnerable. Native Americans are a vulnerable
population.
GAO's recent reports focused on human trafficking that
occurred in Indian Country or that involved Native Americans. I
am here to talk with you about one, whether Federal agencies
collect and maintain data on investigations and prosecutions of
human trafficking; two, whether law enforcement agencies or
service providers encounter human trafficking and what factors
affected their ability to identify and investigate it; and
three, the grant programs that are available to combat
trafficking and assist victims and how well positioned the
agencies are to know the number of Native American trafficking
victims they serve.
Federal agencies generally maintain data on human
trafficking cases in Indian Country. However, they do not
maintain data on whether the victims are Native American. The
four Federal agencies that investigate or prosecute human
trafficking in Indian Country, the FBI, the BIA, ICE and the
U.S. Attorney's offices, are required to record whether a human
trafficking offense was involved in any of their cases.
The FBI, the BIA and the U.S. Attorney's offices also
record whether the crime took place in Indian Country, but they
do not record the race or ethnicity of the victims because, as
they reported, doing so would have no impact on their
investigations and prosecutions. However, according to
information provided to us by BIA and DOJ, from fiscal years
2013 to 2016, there were 14 Federal investigations and 2
Federal prosecutions of human trafficking offenses in Indian
Country or of Native Americans. Human trafficking is considered
to be an underreported crime, so these figures may not
represent the full extent to which this crime is occurring.
We conducted three surveys of tribal law enforcement
agencies, major city law enforcement agencies and victim
service providers to gain their perspectives on human
trafficking. Some reported encountering human trafficking from
2014 to 2015. Of the 132 tribal law enforcement agencies that
responded to our survey, 27 reported they had initiated
investigations.
Of the 61 major city law enforcement agencies that
responded to our survey, 6 reported initiating human
trafficking investigations that involved at least one Native
American victim. Law enforcement agencies cited victim
reluctance to participate as one of the barriers to
investigation and prosecution.
Service providers cited shame and a lack of services as
barriers to victims obtaining services. Some of the agencies we
surveyed believed human trafficking of Native Americans was
occurring more often than was reported. DOJ, HHS and DHS
administered 50 grant programs from fiscal years 2013 to 2016
that could help address human trafficking of Native Americans.
However, the total number of Native American victims served is
unknown.
While HHS has efforts underway to capture information on
the number of Native Americans served, DOJ could do more.
Specifically, we recommended that DOJ require its grantees to
report the number of human trafficking victims served and as
appropriate, the Native American status of those victims.
DOJ did not completely agree with our recommendation and my
fellow panelists will discuss the department's reasons why, but
GAO maintains that without collecting data on the race and
ethnicity of the victims served, DOJ will not know the extent
to which it is providing and improving upon services to
vulnerable populations, including Native American trafficking
victims.
Chairman Hoeven, Ranking Member Udall and members of the
Committee, this concludes my remarks. I am happy to answer any
questions you have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Goodwin follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D., Director, Homeland
Security and Justice Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office
why gao did this study
Human trafficking is the exploitation of a person typically through
force, fraud or coercion for purposes such as forced labor or
commercial sex, and it involves vulnerable populations including Native
Americans. Several components within DOJ, DHS, and the Department of
Interior investigate and prosecute human trafficking in Indian country,
and federal agencies provide grant funding to support efforts to combat
trafficking and assist victims.
This testimony focuses on trafficking occurring in Indian country
or involving Native Americans and addresses the extent to which: (1)
federal agencies collect and maintain data on investigations and
prosecutions; (2) tribal and major city LEAs encounter trafficking and
the factors that affect their ability to investigate and prosecute such
activities; and, (3) federal grant programs are available to help
address trafficking and how well the granting agencies are positioned
to know the number of victims served. This testimony is based on GAO
reports issued in March and July 2017. To do this work GAO reviewed
federal trafficking data and conducted three surveys. We surveyed the
203 known tribal LEAs, 86 major city LEAs, and 315 victim service
provider organizations that received fiscal year 2015 DOJ or HHS grants
that could be used to assist human trafficking victims.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING--Investigations in Indian Country or Involving Native
Americans and Actions Needed to Better Report on Victims Served
What GAO Found
While federal agencies generally maintain data on human trafficking
cases that occur in Indian country, they do not maintain data on
whether the victims are Native American (Native American status). All
four federal agencies that investigate or prosecute human trafficking
in Indian country--the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices--are required to
record in their case management systems whether a human trafficking
offense was involved in the case. With the exception of ICE, these
agencies are also required to record whether the crime took place in
Indian country. ICE officials explained that the agency does not record
this information because, unlike BIA and the FBI, ICE is not generally
involved in criminal investigations in Indian country. Also, officials
from the four agencies said they do not maintain data on Native
American status of victims for various reasons, including that such
data has no impact on their investigations and prosecutions.
Some law enforcement agencies (LEA) reported encountering human
trafficking in Indian country or of Native Americans and cited victim
reluctance to participate in investigations and other factors as
barriers to investigation and prosecution. Of the 132 tribal LEAs that
responded to GAO's survey, 27 reported initiating investigations they
considered to have involved human trafficking from 2014 to 2016. Few
major city LEAs--6 of 61 survey respondents--reported that they
encountered human trafficking involving Native American victims from
2014 to 2016. Further, among the 27 responding tribal LEAs, 18
indicated that they believe victims are reluctant to participate in
investigations for reasons including drug addiction and distrust of law
enforcement.
The departments of Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS),
and Homeland Security (DHS) administered 50 federal grant programs from
fiscal years 2014 through 2016 that can be used to address human
trafficking in Indian Country or of Native Americans, but DOJ could do
more to identify the number of Native American victims served. For
example, DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women requires grantees to
report Native American status of victims served, but not by type of
crime. DOJ's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention do not require grantees to
collect and report Native American status of victims served. However,
in fiscal year 2017, OVC began providing recipients of human
trafficking--specific grant programs the option to report the race or
Native American status of victims served. While Native American status
may not generally be a factor for determining whether a victim can
receive services, it may be a factor for determining how best to assist
this demographic. GAO recommended that DOJ require its grantees to
report the number of human trafficking victims served and, as
appropriate, the Native American status of those victims. DOJ agreed to
implement the first part of this recommendation, but did not agree to
the second part, citing victim confidentiality and other reasons. In
June 2017, DOJ reported ongoing and planned actions to better capture
the number of victims served but reiterated its concerns about
collecting Native American status. GAO maintains that collecting
grantee information on both the number and Native American status of
victims served is important and will continue to monitor
implementation.
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss our recently completed
work on human trafficking in Indian country or of Native Americans. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Federal law defines the term ``Indian country'' as all land
within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of
the U.S. government, all dependent Indian communities within U.S.
borders, and all existing Indian allotments, including any rights-of-
way running through an allotment. See 18 U.S.C. 1151.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Human trafficking--the exploitation of a person typically through
force, fraud, or coercion for such purposes as forced labor,
involuntary servitude, or commercial sex--is occurring in the United
States. \2\ According to the Attorney General's fiscal year 2015 annual
report to Congress on human trafficking, traffickers seek out persons
perceived to be vulnerable. \3\ Vulnerability comes in many forms,
including age (minors), poverty, homelessness, chemical dependency,
prior experiences of abuse, involvement in foster care programs, and
lack of resources or support systems. Native Americans are a vulnerable
population. \4\ For example, according to U.S. Census Bureau
statistics, in 2010, 28 percent of Native Americans were living in
poverty, compared to 15 percent of the general population. Also,
according to the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence
Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an
estimated 27 percent of Native American women had been raped in their
lifetime compared to 18 percent of American women, overall. \5\ In
addition, Indian children enter foster care at twice the rate of all
American children. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Federal law generally recognizes two forms of human
trafficking--sex trafficking and labor trafficking. The Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), as amended, defines human
trafficking under the term ``severe forms of trafficking in persons,''
which means: (1) sex trafficking involving the recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a
person for a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion, or
where the victim has not attained 18 years of age; or (2) labor
trafficking involving the recruitment, harboring, transportation,
provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the
use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to
involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. See Pub. L.
No. 106-386, div. A, 103, 114 Stat. 1464, 1469-70 (classified, as
amended, at 22 U.S.C. 7102(4), (9), (10)).
\3\ Attorney General's Annual Report to Congress and Assessment of
U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Fiscal
Year 2015.
\4\ Throughout this report, we generally use the term ``Native
American'' in reference to an American Indian or Alaska Native,
including persons who have identified themselves as Native American or
individuals whom federal agencies have identified as Native American
based on relevant legal authorities and agency procedures. The terms
``Indian'' and ``Alaska Native'' are defined under federal law for
various purposes. See, e.g., 16 U.S.C. 3102(16); 20 U.S.C.
1059c(b)(1); 25 U.S.C. 1301(4), 1903(3), 2201(2), 4103(10), 5129;
42 U.S.C. 13925(a)(13); 43 U.S.C. 1602(b). The U.S. Census Bureau
has noted that ``American Indian or Alaska Native'' refers to a person
having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South
America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal
affiliation or community attachment. The Census Bureau collects race
data according to U.S. Office of Management and Budget guidelines, and
these data are based on self-identification. People may choose to
report more than one race group. People of any race may be of any
ethnic origin.
\5\ Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G.,
Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., and Stevens, M.R. (2011). The
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010
Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and
Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
\6\ GAO, Foster Care: HHS Needs to Improve the Consistency and
Timeliness of Assistance to Tribes, GAO-15-273 (Washington, D.C.: Feb.
25, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My testimony today summarizes our research on human trafficking in
Indian country and of Native Americans, including federal efforts to
address this issue and perspectives from tribal and local law
enforcement agencies and victim service providers. Specifically, my
statement addresses the extent to which:
(1) federal agencies collect and maintain data on
investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking in Indian
country or of Native Americans regardless of location;
(2) tribal and major city law enforcement agencies (LEA) have
encountered human trafficking in Indian country or of Native
Americans, as well as the factors that affect their ability to
investigate and prosecute such activities; and
(3) federal grant programs are available to help address human
trafficking in Indian country or of Native Americans, and how
well positioned agencies are to know the number of Native
American trafficking victims served.
This statement is based on a report that we issued in March 2017
and another report that we issued earlier this week. \7\ For the
purposes of our reviews, our discussion of human trafficking relates
to: (a) human trafficking that occurs in Indian country (regardless of
whether the victim is Native American); and (b) human trafficking of
individuals who are Native American (regardless of whether they were
trafficked in Indian country or elsewhere).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ GAO, Human Trafficking: Action Needed to Identify the Number of
Native American Victims Receiving Federally-funded Services, GAO-17-325
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 30, 2017), and GAO, Human Trafficking:
Information on Cases in Indian Country or that Involved Native
Americans, GAO-17-624 (Washington, D.C.: July 24, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For our March 2017 work on federal agencies' data collection, we
obtained and reviewed data from federal investigative and prosecutorial
agencies on the number of human trafficking investigations and
prosecutions they conducted for which the crime occurred in Indian
country or at least one of the victims was Native American. We obtained
data for fiscal years 2013 through 2016, the most recently available
data. We determined that the data, when available, were sufficiently
reliable for the purposes of our reporting objectives. For our July
2017 work on tribal and major city LEAs' experiences, we conducted
surveys of three groups: all known tribal LEAs (132 of 203 responded);
major city LEAs (61 of 86 responded); and victim service providers (162
of 315 responded). For our work on federal grant programs, we reviewed
fiscal year 2014 and 2015 human trafficking grant programs identified
through our prior human trafficking work \8\ and interviewed federal
officials responsible for administering human trafficking-related grant
programs to learn whether the granting agencies required grantees to
report whether the victims they served were Native American (Native
American status). Further details on the scope and methodology for our
previously issued reports are available within each published product.
We conducted the work on which this statement is based in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,
appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence
obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions
based on our audit objectives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ GAO, Human Trafficking: Agencies Have Taken Steps to Assess
Prevalence, Address Victim Issues, and Avoid Grant Duplication, GAO-16-
555 (Washington, D.C.: June 28, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background
As of January 2017, there were 567 federally recognized American
Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages. According to the
Department of the Interior's (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),
there are approximately 326 Indian land areas in the United States that
are administered as federal Indian reservations or other tribal lands.
According to the 2010 Census, 5.2 million people in the United States
identified as Native American, either alone or in combination with one
or more other races. Out of this total, 2.9 million people--0.9 percent
of the U.S. population at the time--identified as Native American
alone. At the time of the 2010 Census, more than 1.1 million Native
Americans resided on tribal lands. \9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ United States Census Bureau, www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/
briefs/c2010br-10.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several components within the Department of Justice (DOJ),
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DOI have responsibility for
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking crimes in Indian
country. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), within DOJ, has
investigative responsibilities in Indian country where the federal
government has criminal jurisdiction. The FBI has assigned more than
100 agents and 40 victim assistance staff, located in 19 of its 56
field offices, to work Indian country cases full time.
BIA is statutorily responsible for enforcing federal law and, with
the consent of the tribe, tribal law in Indian country. \10\ BIA
supports tribes in their efforts to ensure public safety and administer
justice within Indian country, as well as to provide related services
directly or to enter into contracts or compacts with federally
recognized tribes to administer the law enforcement program. \11\ To
that end, BIA's Office of Justice Services (OJS) provides direct law
enforcement services for 40 tribes. Unlike FBI and BIA, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--a DHS component--is not
generally involved in criminal investigations in Indian country but may
assist with criminal investigations at the request of the tribe,
according to DHS officials.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ 25 U.S.C. 2802(c)(1). The statute notes that the
responsibilities of the BIA's Office of Justice Services are subject to
the provisions contained therein and other applicable Federal or tribal
laws. See id. 2802(c).
\11\ Under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance
Act of 1975, as amended, federally recognized tribes can enter into
self-determination contracts and self-governance compacts with the
federal government to take over administration of certain federal
programs previously administered on their behalf. Pub. L. No. 93-638,
88 Stat. 2203 (classified as amended at 25 U.S.C. 5301-10). Self-
determination contracts allow tribes to assume responsibility for
managing the program's day-to-day operations, with BIA providing
technical oversight to ensure that the tribe meets contract terms, as
opposed to BIA administering the program on their behalf. Self-
governance compacts transfer to tribes the administration of the
program and provide the tribes with some flexibility in program
administration.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forty-nine of DOJ's 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices (USAO) include
Indian country within their jurisdiction. \12\ Each of these USAOs has
at least one Assistant U.S. Attorney appointed as Tribal Liaison. Each
Tribal Liaison is responsible for most dealings with tribes in their
district. According to Executive Office for United States Attorneys
officials, some districts with large amounts of Indian country have
more than one Assistant U.S. Attorney assigned to the position of
Tribal Liaison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ One additional USAO--the Eastern District of Virginia--has a
federally recognized tribe in its jurisdiction, but no Indian country
at this time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to investigating and prosecuting human trafficking
crimes, federal agencies, primarily DOJ and the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS), support efforts to combat human trafficking
and assist victims. \13\ Several components within DOJ, including the
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Office of Justice
Programs, which includes the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP), the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), the Bureau
of Justice Assistance, and the National Institute of Justice, provide
grants to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies combat
human trafficking and to support nongovernmental organizations and
others in assisting trafficking victims or conducting research on human
trafficking in the United States. HHS provides grant funding to
entities to provide services and support for trafficking victims,
primarily through the Administration for Children and Families, which
includes the Office on Trafficking in Persons, the Children's Bureau,
the Family and Youth Services Bureau, and the Administration for Native
Americans.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 3014(a)-(h); 22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1),
(f)(1), (2), (3); 42 U.S.C. 5714-41; Pub. L. No. 114-22, tit. VII,
129 Stat. at 261-63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Federal Agencies Generally Maintain Data on Human Trafficking
Cases in Indian Country, They Do Not Maintain Data on Native
American Status of Victims
In March 2017, we reported that all four federal agencies that
investigate or prosecute human trafficking in Indian country--the FBI,
BIA, ICE, and the USAO--are required to record in their case management
systems whether a human trafficking offense was involved in the case.
With the exception of ICE, these agencies are also required to record
in their case management systems whether the crime took place in Indian
country. ICE officials explained that the agency does not record this
information because, unlike BIA and the FBI, ICE is not generally
involved in criminal investigations in Indian country.
According to information provided to us by federal agencies that
investigate or prosecute human trafficking in Indian country, there
were 14 federal investigations and 2 federal prosecutions of human
trafficking offenses in Indian country from fiscal years 2013 through
2016. \14\ From fiscal years 2013 through 2015, there were over 6,100
federal human trafficking investigations and approximately 1,000
federal human trafficking prosecutions, overall. \15\ In certain
circumstances, state or tribal law enforcement may have jurisdiction to
investigate crimes in Indian country; therefore, these figures likely
do not represent the total number of human trafficking-related cases in
Indian country. Also, considering that human trafficking is known to be
an underreported crime, it is unlikely that these figures, or any other
investigative or prosecutorial data, represent the full extent to which
human trafficking is occurring in Indian country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Prosecutions are cases where a charging document has been
filed in district court. GAO-16-555. According to USAO officials, one
of the two prosecutions resulted in a conviction.
\15\ We obtained data on fiscal year 2013 through 2015 human
trafficking investigations and prosecutions as part of our prior work;
fiscal year 2016 data were not available at the time. See GAO-16-555.
``Cases prosecuted'' is when all appeals for all defendants in a case
have been exhausted or when an office has relinquished its
responsibility for the remaining appeal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three of the four federal agencies that investigate or prosecute
human trafficking-related crimes do not require their agents or
attorneys to consistently collect or record the race or ethnicity,
including Native American status, of victims in their cases. Therefore,
the total number of federal human trafficking investigations and
prosecutions that involved Native American victims is unknown. Agents
and attorneys may voluntarily collect this information and record it in
their case management systems when there is a designated data field.
\16\ The FBI and USAOs that have Indian country in their jurisdiction
are statutorily required to collect and report information on victims'
Native American status when they decline to refer or prosecute an
Indian country case, but not otherwise. \17\ According to the limited
data that were available, federal agencies initiated at least 6 human
trafficking investigations that involved Native American victims from
fiscal years 2013 to 2016--the FBI Civil Rights Unit initiated 5
investigations and BIA initiated 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ For Indian country cases only, the case management systems for
FBI and BIA have data fields to collect victim race or Native American
status.
\17\ Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 101-379, 10,
104 Stat. 473, 477-78 (1990), as amended by Tribal Law and Order Act of
2010 (TLOA), Pub. L. No. 111-211, tit. II, subtit. A, 212, 124 Stat.
2258, 2267-68 (classified, as amended, at 25 U.S.C. 2809).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal investigative and prosecutorial agencies provided two
primary reasons why they generally do not collect information on the
Native American status of victims. First, according to officials from
DOJ's Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Native American
status has no impact on whether the federal government can investigate
or prosecute cases outside of Indian country. Officials told us that
Native American status of victims is only relevant for Indian country
cases because it is necessary for establishing which law enforcement
agency has jurisdiction over the case. Similarly, FBI officials
reported that they only collect information that is necessary for the
investigation, which does not include the victim's race or Native
American status. Further, officials from all of the investigative and
prosecutorial agencies raised concerns related to either the
sensitivity of asking victims about their race or Native American
status or collecting additional personal information about the victim
that could make them identifiable to the defendant or others during the
discovery phase of a criminal trial. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ The discovery phase is the pretrial evidence gathering process
in which the federal prosecutor is to, among other things, determine
what information is legally subject to disclosure to the defendant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some Law Enforcement Agencies Reported Encountering Human
Trafficking in Indian Country or of Native Americans, and Cited
Victim Reluctance to Participate in Investigations and Other
Factors as
Barriers to Investigation and Prosecution
Tribal and Major City Law Enforcement Agencies Reported Encountering
Human Trafficking in Indian Country or of Native Americans
In our report released earlier this week, we found that of the 132
tribal LEAs that responded to our survey, 27 reported that they
initiated investigations they considered to have involved human
trafficking from 2014 to 2016, as shown in figure 1. \19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ We did not ask tribal and major city LEAs to use a specific
definition of human trafficking when responding to our survey; rather,
we asked that they respond based on what they considered to be human
trafficking. We found variation in how LEAs define ``human
trafficking.'' Because of that variation, a crime reported as human
trafficking by one respondent, may not have been reported as such by
another. For example, 13 of the 27 tribal LEA respondents that reported
initiating investigations they consider to have involved human
trafficking included prostitution as a criminal activity they consider
to be human trafficking while other respondents did not report
including prostitution. In addition, 4 of the 27 tribal LEA respondents
included kidnapping as a criminal activity they consider to be human
trafficking.
Of the 27 tribal LEAs that reported initiating investigations
involving human trafficking from 2014 to 2016, 24 provided the number
of investigations that they conducted during that period. Those 24
reported a total of 70 human trafficking investigations from 2014 to
2016, ranging from 0 to 8 investigations for each tribal LEA in each
year. Additionally, 22 of the 24 tribal LEAs reported a total of 58
victims from 2014 to 2016. \20\ The number of victims encountered by
each LEA ranged from 0 to 7 victims in each investigation. \21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ Three of these 22 tribal LEAs reported 0 victims. The
remaining 5 of the total 27 tribal LEAs did not report the number of
victims from 2014 to 2016.
\21\ Tribal LEAs may have reported an investigation with zero
victims if, for example, they conducted a sting operation where law
enforcement officials posed as traffickers to persons seeking to engage
in a commercial sex act, but where victims did not actually exist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Few major city LEAs reported that they encountered human
trafficking from 2014 to 2016 that involved Native American victims.
Specifically, 6 of the 61 major city LEAs that responded to our survey
reported initiating human trafficking investigations that involved at
least one Native American victim during that period, as shown in figure
2.
Of the 6 major city LEAs that reported initiating any human
trafficking investigations involving Native American victims, 5 also
identified the number of investigations and victims involved. Those 5
LEAs reported a total of 60 investigations involving 81 Native American
victims from 2014 to 2016. For each investigation, the number of Native
American victims ranged from 0 to 31. Of those 5 LEAs, one respondent--
the Minneapolis Police Department--reported the majority of
investigations and victims. Specifically, the Minneapolis Police
Department reported 49 of the 60 total investigations and 70 of the 81
total victims from 2014 to 2016. In meetings with officials from the
Minneapolis Police Department, they stated that they made a concerted
effort, starting in 2012, to meet with tribal elders and service
providers who worked with the Native American population to demonstrate
their willingness to investigate human trafficking crimes. The
officials stated that, following those meetings, the number of human
trafficking crimes involving Native American victims that were reported
to the department increased.
Some Tribal LEA Survey Respondents Believe More Human Trafficking Is
Occurring but Is Not Being Reported
Nearly half of tribal LEA respondents (60 of 132) reported that
they believe human trafficking is occurring on tribal land in their
jurisdictions beyond what had been brought to their attention. \22\
Officials from two tribal LEAs told us during in-person meetings that
in their experience some victims do not come forward to report their
victimization because they are embarrassed or feel ashamed. Several
survey respondents also indicated that they suspect there is more human
trafficking than what has been reported to them because of the presence
of casinos on their land (14 of 60). For example, officials from one
tribal LEA explained that the tribal casino hotel may be used as a
venue for sex trafficking. Some respondents (13 of 60) suspect that sex
trafficking may be occurring as part of some of the drug crimes that
they investigate. Officials from one county LEA we visited near a
tribal community told us that officers may not recognize that human
trafficking is taking place, particularly when it occurs alongside
another crime like drug trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ Of the remaining survey respondents, 43 of 132 reported that
they did not suspect more human trafficking was occurring on tribal
land in their jurisdictions and 29 of 132 reported that they did not
know.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most major city LEA respondents (51 of 61) indicated that they did
not suspect or did not know whether more human trafficking of Native
Americans is occurring in their jurisdiction, beyond what has been
reported to them. Of those 51 that responded, 24 explained that this
was the consequence of having few, if any, Native Americans in their
jurisdiction. Ten of the 61 major city LEAs reported that they believe
more human trafficking of Native Americans is occurring and cited
possible reasons for the lack of reporting. One major city LEA with a
high concentration of Native American constituents reported that there
is a social stigma associated with reporting crimes to the police among
Native Americans. A third major city respondent cited the poor
relationship between the Native American community and city police
department as a reason for the lack of referrals of human trafficking
crimes.
Law Enforcement Agencies Cited Victim Reluctance to Participate in
Investigations and Other Factors as Barriers to Investigating
and Prosecuting Human Trafficking
We asked survey respondents about barriers to investigating human
trafficking cases. Of the 27 tribal LEAs that reported initiating
investigations involving human trafficking, 18 indicated that they
believe victims are reluctant to participate in the investigation or
prosecution of their case. These respondents cited the following
reasons for victims' reluctance to participate in investigations or
prosecutions as ``somewhat common'' or ``very common'': \23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ We asked respondents whether seven reasons that we provided
were ``very common,'' ``somewhat common,'' ``not at all common,'' or
``don't know.'' We compiled the list of reasons that victims may be
reluctant to participate in an investigation based on our previous work
and interviews with potential survey respondents. (See, GAO, Human
Trafficking: Agencies Have Taken Steps to Assess Prevalence, Address
Victim Issues, and Avoid Grant Duplication, GAO-16-555 (Washington,
D.C.: June 28, 2016).) We also provided an opportunity for survey
respondents to add additional reasons.
The victim fears retaliation from the trafficker (17 of 18
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
respondents),
The victim is traumatized (16 of 18),
The victim does not see herself or himself as a victim (16
of 18),
The victim distrusts law enforcement (14 of 18),
The victim is sentimentally attached to the trafficker (13
of 18),
The victim is underage and does not want to return home (10
of 18), and
The victim is addicted to drugs (17 of 18). \24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\24\ For additional responses, see the electronic supplement to
this report: GAO, SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL FOR GAO-17-624: Survey Results
for Selected Tribal and Major City Law Enforcement Agencies and Victim
Service Providers on Human Trafficking, GAO-17-626SP (Washington, D.C.:
July 24, 2017).
In addition, one of the tribal LEA respondents told us during an
interview that, in his experience, drugs are always associated with
crimes involving human trafficking. On our survey, when asked how
frequently tribal LEA survey respondents identified other crimes when
investigating possible human trafficking, 21 of 27 tribal LEAs that
initiated human trafficking investigations also reported encountering
drug distribution and drug trafficking ``sometimes'' or ``frequently.''
\25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ Other types of crimes that tribal LEAs reported identifying at
least sometimes when investigating human trafficking include rape or
sexual assault (13 of 27), domestic violence (12 of 27), and gang
activity (12 of 27).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over half of the tribal LEAs that responded to our survey (72 of
132) identified one or more types of assistance that they would like to
receive to help identify and address human trafficking in their
jurisdiction. \26\ These were:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\26\ Of the remaining 60 survey respondents, 33 did not respond or
responded that they did not know, and 25 responded that they were not
interested in federal assistance or the question was not applicable to
them.
Additional training or technical assistance (50 of 72
respondents). Officials from one tribal LEA we interviewed
expressed interest in training that focuses on building trust
between tribal and non-tribal representatives and helps make
tribal law enforcement and community members aware of existing
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
federal resources.
Additional funding (28 of 72). Several tribal LEAs reported
an interest in receiving additional federal funding to add
staff support, including officers in some instances, to assist
in investigations.
We also surveyed victim service providers about ways that the
federal government could support their efforts to serve Native American
human trafficking victims. The 42 service providers that reported
providing services to Native American victims of human trafficking from
2014 to 2016 most frequently cited two areas in which the federal
government could support them. Those areas were:
Additional funding for service provider programs (19 of 42
respondents). Respondents cited a need for funding for
additional staff and funding specifically targeted to tribal
programs.
Additional information to increase public awareness and
training for service providers and LEAs (12 of 42). Respondents
cited a need for training focused on identifying victims for
both service providers and tribal LEAs, how to develop tribal
trafficking statutes, and training on how to work with Native
American populations effectively.
Fifty Federal Grant Programs Can Be Used to Address Human Trafficking
in Indian Country or of Native Americans, but DOJ Could do More
to Identify the Number of Native American Victims Served
In March 2017, we reported that DOJ, HHS, and DHS administered 50
grant programs from fiscal years 2013 through 2016 that could help
address Native American human trafficking. For example, 21 of these
grant programs, which were administered by DOJ and HHS, could be used
to provide services to Native American human trafficking victims.
However, the total number of Native American victims who received
services under these grant programs is unknown because the agencies do
not track this information. HHS officials told us they are developing a
data collection tool that grantees can use to report information on
human trafficking victims served, including Native American status of
victims. We reported that DOJ's OVW requires grantees to report Native
American status of victims served, but not by type of crime. DOJ's OVC
and the OJJDP do not require grantees to collect and report Native
American status of victims served. However, in fiscal year 2017, OVC
began providing recipients of human trafficking-specific grant programs
the option to report the race or Native American status of victims
served.
While Native American status may not generally be a factor for
determining whether a victim can receive services, it may be a factor
for determining how best to assist this particular demographic.
According to the 2013-2017 Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services
for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States, which DOJ, DHS,
and HHS jointly developed, expanding human trafficking data collection
and research efforts for Native Americans and other vulnerable
populations is an area for improvement for the federal government.
Additionally, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government
states that quality information should be used to achieve objectives
based on relevant data from reliable sources. \27\ Thus we concluded
that without collecting data on the Native American status of victims
served, federal agencies would not know the extent to which they are
achieving government-wide strategic goals to provide and improve
services to vulnerable populations, including Native American human
trafficking victims. Therefore, we recommended in March 2017 that DOJ
require its grantees to report the number of human trafficking victims
served and, as appropriate, the Native American status of those
victims.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ GAO-14-704G.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOJ partially agreed with our recommendation. In its comments, DOJ
indicated it would implement the first part of the recommendation,
which is to require grantees to report the number of human trafficking
victims served with grant funding. However, DOJ disagreed with the
second part of the recommendation, which is to require grantees to
report the Native American status of those victims. DOJ identified
several reasons why grantees should not be required to report the
Native American status of trafficking victims, including a potential
chilling effect on service delivery, victim confidentiality, and
overburdening of grantees. When we published our March 2017 report, we
acknowledged DOJ's concerns, but maintained that collecting grantee
information on the Native American status of victims served would be
useful to better serve this demographic. Following our report's
issuance, DOJ reported in June 2017, that OVW already collects
consolidated data on the number of American Indian and Alaska Native
victims served who are victims of all crimes and it is in the process
of revising grantee forms to collect information on the number of
people served who are victims of sex trafficking. DOJ also explained
that OJJDP human trafficking grantees will be required to report the
number of human trafficking victims served beginning with progress
reports ending December 31, 2017 and that OJJDP will update applicable
solicitations beginning in fiscal year 2018 to reflect this new
measure. DOJ reported no new efforts from OVC, and maintained that it
will not require grantees to report on the Native American status of
their victims served using grant funding because of the concerns it
cited initially. We continue to assert that collecting grantee
information on both the number and Native American status of victims
served is important and will continue to monitor implementation.
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and Members of the Committee,
this completes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond to
any questions that you may have at this time.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Goodwin.
Mr. Toulou.
STATEMENT OF TRACY TOULOU, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF TRIBAL JUSTICE,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Mr. Toulou. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall
and members of the Committee.
It is an honor to appear before you today. Thank you for
the opportunity to provide the Department of Justice
perspective on this important issue.
There are numerous risk factors cited in studies about
human trafficking, including poverty, homelessness, exposure to
violence and substance abuse. The reality is that many of these
risk factors occur at higher rates among American Indians and
Alaska Native populations.
Recognition of the exceptional vulnerability of many
American Indian and Alaska Native individuals has led to
focused efforts of the Department of Justice to effectively
respond to criminal activity, to support tribes' efforts to
address trafficking in their communities and to address public
safety issues that lead to trafficking.
I would like to talk about some of the department's
resources to combat trafficking. The Department of Justice
administers 41 grant programs that can be used to address human
trafficking in Indian Country or the needs of Native American
victims regardless of location.
These programs support a wide variety of activities
including providing services, conducting research and launching
public awareness campaigns. For example, the Department's
Office for Victims of Crimes funded Project Beacon which is
aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of comprehensive
victim-centered services available to assist American Indian
and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking in urban areas.
Also, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act
in 2013 added sex trafficking to the tribal grant programs
managed by the Department's Office on Violence Against Women.
OVW efforts to implement this change include funding the
Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition to provide
training and technical assistance for tribal communities and to
increase overall awareness regarding sexual assault in Native
communities.
The Department of Justice's commitment to addressing
trafficking both in Indian Country and among the Native
American population in general goes beyond grant programs. We
are committed to a whole government approach to addressing
trafficking, working closely with BIA, HHS and other partners.
For example, each U.S. Attorney's office either leads or
participates in at least one district-based human trafficking
task force. U.S. Attorney's offices with Indian Country
jurisdiction consult regularly with tribes and seek their input
in crafting strategies to address Indian Country cases,
including human trafficking. To facilitate tribal consultation,
each U.S. Attorney's office with Indian Country jurisdiction
has at least one Tribal Liaison who directly interfaces with
tribal leadership and law enforcement.
In addition, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys
provides training and guidance to Federal, state, local and
tribal attorneys, law enforcement, and victim service
specialists on trafficking and other law enforcement issues in
Indian Country, including the National Indian Country Training
Initiative. In February 2017, EOUSA sponsored a Human
Trafficking in Indian Country Seminar with over 120
participants. In November, the department will sponsor new
training focusing specifically on prosecution of human
trafficking in Indian Country.
Also, the Department of Justice, in conjunction with BIA,
has also formed the Federal Victims in Indian Country Working
Group comprised of staff level experts on victim services, some
of whom are very knowledgeable about human trafficking. This
group was formed to share best practices, identify challenges
and recommend agency actions.
Now I would like to turn to the GAO reports that underlie
today's hearing. As my written testimony makes clear, the
department is committed to working with tribes and our agency
partners to better address human trafficking.
We support GAO's premise that additional data would be
beneficial to agencies and lawmakers alike and are taking
actions to ensure the appropriate reporting mechanisms are
available to grantees, in addition to actively supporting
broader efforts to better understand trafficking of Native
American victims. We will continue to work with tribes, our
grantees and Federal partners to better understand how Indian
victims in Indian Country are impacted by human trafficking and
how we can more effectively use law enforcement resources to
address this issue.The Department of Justice maintains that
challenges faced by tribes are best met by tribal solutions.
The Office of Tribal Justice, tribal liaisons and the U.S.
Attorney's Office and other Federal partners work together to
ensure that tribes are able to communicate concerns and
collaborate on solutions with the Department of Justice and
other agencies. This network will continue to play critical
roles in developing more effective strategies to combat
trafficking in Indian Country and among Native American people.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Toulou follows:]
Prepared Statement of Tracy Toulou, Director, Office of Tribal Justice,
U.S. Department of Justice
Chairman Hoeven, Vice-Chairman Udall, and Members of the Committee:
It is an honor to appear before you today. Thank you for the
opportunity to provide the Department of Justice's perspective on this
important issue. There are numerous risk factors cited in studies about
human trafficking, including poverty, homelessness, and exposure to
violence and abuse. The reality is that many of these risk factors
occur at higher rates among American Indian/Alaska Native populations.
Recognition of the exceptional vulnerability of many American Indian
and Alaska Native individuals has led to focused efforts at the
Department of Justice to effectively respond to criminal activity, to
support Tribes' efforts to address trafficking in their communities and
to address systemic public safety issues that can lead to trafficking.
The Government Accountability Office issued a report, Human
Trafficking: Action Needed to Identify the Number of Native American
Victims Receiving Federally-funded Services, on April 6, 2017 that
addressed Native American human trafficking victims. The study was
focused on answering two questions: (1) the extent to which federal
agencies collect and maintain data on the investigations and
prosecutions of human trafficking in Indian country or involving Native
Americans, and (2) the availability of federal grant programs to help
address human trafficking in Indian Country or of Native Americans, and
the number of Native American trafficking victims served through these
programs; a companion study on investigations at the tribal and local
levels and the availability of services for victims was released on
July 24, 2017. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ GAO-17-624 ``Human Trafficking: Information on Cases in Indian
Country or that Involved Native Americans,'' July 24, 2017. This report
addresses (1) the extent to which tribal and major city Law Enforcement
Agencies (LEAs) have encountered human trafficking in Indian country or
of Native Americans; (2) factors affecting the ability of LEAs to
identify and investigate this specific human trafficking, and (3)
availability of services to Native American victims of human
trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources To Combat Trafficking
The Department of Justice administers forty-one grant programs that
can be used to address human trafficking in Indian country or of Native
American victims regardless of location, which are cataloged in the
April GAO report. These programs support a wide variety of activities
including providing services, conducting research, and launching public
awareness campaigns. Both GAO reports emphasize the importance of
training for law enforcement and victim service providers on
identifying victims and providing targeted services for them. The
Department funds efforts in both of these areas, including efforts
addressing the specific concerns and needs of American Indian and
Alaska Native victims. For example:
The Department's Office for Victims of Crime funded
``Project Beacon'' which is aimed at increasing the quantity
and quality of comprehensive victim-centered services available
to assist American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex
trafficking in urban areas. All services provided as part of
this program must respect the decisionmaking autonomy of
victims of sex trafficking; support victim self-sufficiency;
and promote victims' feelings of increased safety and well-
being. OVC awarded grants in FY 16 to the Seattle Indian
Center, First Nations Community Health Source in Albuquerque,
NM, and the American Indian Center of Chicago.
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in
2013 added sex trafficking to the tribal grant programs managed
by the Department's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). OVW
efforts to implement this change include funding the Minnesota
Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition to provide training and
technical assistance for tribal communities on responding to
sex trafficking and to develop a resource manual for service
providers on the dynamics of these crimes for native women and
children.
The Department of Justice's commitment to addressing trafficking
both in Indian country and among the Native American population in
general goes beyond grant programs. For example:
The Department of Justice is committed to a ``whole
government'' approach to addressing trafficking and works in
close partnership with other federal agencies to develop
policies and protocols that will more effectively prevent and
respond to trafficking incidents.
Each U.S. Attorney's Office either leads or participates in
at least one district-based human trafficking task force. U.S.
Attorney's Offices with Indian country jurisdiction prosecute
federal crimes occurring on tribal lands and have victim
assistance personnel assigned to provide services to victims in
Indian country. They also consult regularly with tribes and
seek their input in crafting strategies to address Indian
country cases, including human trafficking. To facilitate
tribal consultation, each U.S. Attorney's Office with Indian
country jurisdiction has at least one Assistant United States
Attorney who serves as a designated Tribal Liaison and directly
interfaces with tribal leadership.
The Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) provides
training and guidance to federal, state, local and tribal
attorneys, law enforcement, and victim service specialists on
trafficking and other law enforcement issues in Indian country.
In July 2010, EOUSA launched the National Indian Country
Training Initiative (NICTI) to ensure that Department
prosecutors, as well as state and tribal criminal justice
personnel, receive the training and support needed to address
the particular challenges relevant to Indian country
prosecutions. In February 2015, the NICTI, together with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, held the first-ever Human
Trafficking in Indian Country Seminar. The seminar was for
federal and tribal criminal justice professionals working in
Indian country. The seminar enhanced participant's
understanding of legal definitions, elements of federal
offenses, and current issues and challenges of human
trafficking enforcement. The training also included in-depth
discussions of effective strategies for identifying,
investigating, and prosecuting human trafficking cases,
including prosecutors' roles in planning successful enforcement
operations; strategies for developing victim testimony;
pretrial litigation strategies; effective trial presentation in
human trafficking prosecutions; and sentencing issues. The
seminar focused primarily on sex trafficking. A similar
training was held in February 2017, with over 120 federal
prosecutors, federal agents, and state, local, and tribal law
enforcement partners. In November 2017, the NICTI is offering a
new training program for federal, state and tribal prosecutors
titled the ``National Institute on the Prosecution of Human
Trafficking in Indian Country.''
Several DOJ components collaborated on a series of training
videos focused on violence committed against Alaska Natives.
One of the videos, released in October 2016, concerns the issue
of sex trafficking committed against Alaska Natives. The target
audience for the training video is tribal, state, and federal
leadership and criminal justice and social service
professionals who deal with cases of domestic violence, sexual
assault and sex trafficking committed against Alaska Natives.
The videos are available online at https://www.ovc.gov/library/
healing-journey.html.
The Department of Justice formed the Federal Victims in
Indian Country Working Group, comprised of staff-level experts
on victim services in Indian country from numerous agencies, to
share best practices, identify challenges, and develop
recommended solutions.
Addressing Data Limitations
In the April report, the GAO underscored the lack of reliable data
on the number of American Indian and Alaska Native trafficking victims.
Collecting data on American Indian and Alaska Natives has been a long-
time challenge for the Department of Justice, and we agree that we need
to improve our data collection on human trafficking of Native
Americans. Indeed, the need to better understand patterns and map the
impact of specific risk factors associated with human trafficking
involving Native Americans and in Indian country is at the core of
several leadership-driven efforts. For example, our most recent
National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (January 2017) includes a
section on trafficking in Indian country that describes risk factors,
identifies areas with higher trafficking activity, and highlights some
of the efforts by DOJ to address trafficking of American Indian/Native
Alaska individuals. More recently, Attorney General Sessions
established the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, which
includes subcommittees on human trafficking and Indian country.
The April GAO report made a two-part recommendation for action: to
report the number of human trafficking victims served using grant
funding, and, as appropriate, to report the Native American status of
those victims. The Department of Justice has taken steps to ensure that
our grantees serving this population are reporting the number of human
trafficking victims served using grant funds. However, as noted in our
formal response to the GAO, which was appended to the final report, the
Department was not in agreement with the part of the recommendation
that indicated we should mandate that grantees report on the Native
American status of individual human trafficking victims.
The Department's objection to establishing a new mandatory
reporting requirement is rooted in the fundamental need to protect a
victim's right to privacy. Trafficking victims are understandably
reluctant to disclose personal information for fear of discovery and
retaliation. The Department of Justice's primary objective is to ensure
that victims of crime are able to access appropriate services and have
their immediate safety needs addressed. Adding an additional mandatory
reporting requirement may result in collection of potentially public
information so granular that it makes vulnerable crime victims easily
identifiable, particularly in smaller communities. Indeed, certain
grant programs include a statutory confidentiality provision that
specifically prohibits grantees from sharing personally identifying
information in order to meet federal reporting requirements. \2\ From
an administrative standpoint, we are concerned that adding new
reporting requirements will overburden service providers and encroach
on the already limited time they have to provide services to victims
who are in desperate need.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ This provision permits grantees to share non-personally
identifying data in the aggregate regarding services to their clients
and non-personally identifying demographic information in order to
comply with federal grant reporting requirements. However, it also
specifically provides that no personally identifying information may be
shared in order to comply with such federal reporting requirements. See
42 U.S.C. 13925(b)(2)(D)(i)(I), (ii)(II). ``Personally identifying
information'' is defined to include any information, ``including date
of birth, racial or ethnic background, or religious affiliation, that
would serve to identify an individual.'' 42 U.S.C. 13925(a)(20)(E).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department has additional concerns about treating performance
data from grantees as a source of representative statistics. Consider
that victim service providers funded in part by Department of Justice
grants will only report on DOJ grant-related activity. The full breadth
of service provided to trafficking victims will not be captured in such
a report, nor are Department of Justice grantees representative of all
service providers working with trafficking victims. The statistical and
research arms of the Department are the best equipped of the grant-
making components to manage statistical collections of data and conduct
large-scale research on this issue. There are studies currently
underway that will help us better understand victimization of Native
Americans and Alaska Natives: the National Institute of Justice is
currently funding a multi-year effort, the Violence Against Indian
Women National Baseline study, to obtain an accurate national
victimization rate of violence against American Indian and Alaska
Native women living in tribal communities. \3\ The Bureau of Justice
Statistics is conducting a national census of victim service providers,
followed by a survey of a nationally representative sample of victim
service providers. \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Information on the National Baseline Study can be found here:
https://www.nij.gov/topics/tribal-justice/vaw-research/Pages/baseline-
study.aspx.
\4\ For more information on the census and survey, see https://
www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=98.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department supports GAO's premise that additional data would be
beneficial to agencies and lawmakers alike, and is taking action to
ensure that appropriate reporting mechanisms are available to grantees
and to actively support broader efforts to better understand
trafficking of Native American victims. To this end, the Department is
consulting with Tribal leaders on this topic at the annual government-
to-government consultation under the Violence Against Women Act, which
will take place on October 3-4 of this year.
The Department of Justice maintains that challenges faced by Tribes
are best met by solutions that include Tribal input. The Office of
Tribal Justice and the network of tribal liaisons in the United States
Attorneys' offices and specialists located in field and headquarters
offices help ensure that Tribes are able to communicate concerns and
collaborate on solutions with appropriate Department personnel. This
network and the guiding philosophy will play a critical role as we
develop more effective strategies to combat trafficking in Indian
country and among Native American people. We look forward to working
with our partners here in D.C., in Indian country, and elsewhere to
address these heinous crimes. I would be happy to answer any questions
you may have.
The Chairman. Mr. Thompson.
STATEMENT OF JASON THOMPSON, ACTING DEPUTY
DIRECTOR, JUSTICE SERVICES, BUREAU OF INDIAN
AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Thompson. Good afternoon, Chairman Hoeven, Vice
Chairman Udall and members of the Committee.
My name is Jason Thompson and I am the Acting Director for
the Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs at the
Department of the Interior. I am pleased to provide a statement
on behalf of the department on the topic of the Committee's
oversight hearing on the Government Accountability Office's
report, Human Trafficking of American Indians and Alaska
Natives in the United States.
The BIA has a service population of about 1.7 million
American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 567
federally-recognized tribes. The BIA supports 191 law
enforcement programs with 40 BIA-operated programs and 151
tribally-operated programs.
Approximately 79 percent of the total BIA OJS programs are
contracted with tribes as authorized in Public Law 93-638, as
amended, or compacted with tribes as authorized under Title IV
of the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act,
as amended.
Additionally, many tribes supplement OJS funding with
funding from the tribes' treasury, grants from the Department
of Justice or other sources. Under Public Law 83-280 and
similar legislation, the remaining tribes rely on State and
local law enforcement to combat major crimes.
OJS provides a wide range of law enforcement services to
Indian Country. These services include uniformed police
services, criminal investigations, detention program
management, tribal courts, drug enforcement, internal affairs,
and officer training by the Indian Police Academy.
OJS is statutorily responsible for enforcing Federal law
and with the consent of tribes, tribal law within Indian
Country. With this great responsibility, OJS takes every
opportunity to enhance our ability to protect our tribal
citizens and communities.
As human trafficking has grown in areas across the United
States, Indian Country has not been immune to the criminal
elements exploiting the vulnerabilities of Native Americans and
the lack of law enforcement presence in some areas.
Since human trafficking knows no borders, interagency
collaboration is vital to our efforts to foster safe and
thriving Native communities. To combat human trafficking, the
Division of Drug Enforcement within OJS has been tasked with
leading investigations of human trafficking violations
affecting Indian Country.
Due to the close association of trafficking to drug and
prostitution cases, the Division of Drug Enforcement is most
closely aligned to these types of crimes.
Over the past three years, OJS has been contacted by tribes
reporting an increase in prostitution and human trafficking
activity occurring on the reservations. OJS has also reported
an increase in sex trafficking occurring on or near Indian
Country enterprises.
The most prevalent activity occurs around areas with high
transient populations such as tribal gaming operations, hotels
and travel plazas. It is OJS' experience that prostitution
networks target highly populated tribal venues for their
operations, sometimes traveling from out of State to commit
these acts. Although prostitution and human trafficking are not
the same, the presence of prostitution networks can indicate
high levels of vulnerability, exploitation and coercion that
contribute to trafficking.
In addition, over the past three years, OJS has made an
effort to improve the collection and maintenance of its data on
human trafficking. The improvements allow for the collection of
more specific data on human trafficking investigations, thus
providing OJS with the ability to better track and evaluate the
level of human trafficking violations occurring in Indian
Country.
Regarding our investigative efforts, OJS has partnered with
other Federal, State and local enforcement agencies in efforts
to identify and dismantle human trafficking operations
occurring in and around Indian Country. Over the past four
years, OJS has conducted 12 human trafficking investigations.
That number as of this morning is 14. Below are the combined
results for the 12 investigations and I will skip to the
summary. Of the 23 defendants from these 12, now 14, cases, two
were sentenced to incarceration; 6 received suspended
sentences; 12 received deferred sentences, 1 received a fine; 3
are awaiting court proceedings; and 2 have outstanding
warrants.
As to our training efforts, the Indian Police Academy
provides human trafficking training to new BIA and tribal
police officers attending the Indian Country Police Officer
Training Program or our basic Police Academy. Field supervisors
are doing advanced training. The course familiarizes officers
with the issue of human trafficking in Indian Country, legal
considerations, identification of indicators and how to assist
victims and effectively initiate an investigation.
To date, the academy has trained 414 officers in human
trafficking training and basic and/or advanced training
programs. Additionally, the Indian Police Academy has partnered
with the Department of Homeland Security, Blue Campaign, and
the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for the development
of a human trafficking in Indian Country training video for
inclusion in future, instructor-led and online training
program.
The OJS Victim Assistance Program also provides Native
American human trafficking training throughout Indian Country
communities at both the local and regional levels. For
instance, this year, OJS partnered with the National Indian
Gaming Commission to provide Native American human trafficking
training at each of its regional conferences with the target
audience including gaming commissioners, operations staff,
hotel and casino staff, as well as tribal leaders and community
leaders. These training sessions include information on the
dynamics of human trafficking victimization, indicators,
vulnerabilities and strategies communities can take to prevent
or respond to human trafficking.
Through educational training, OJS will continue to educate
the public and tribal enterprise on how to identify indicators
of human trafficking and reporting to law enforcement. OJS
agents will continue to sharpen their investigative skills by
identifying new ways to target criminal networks that exploit
our most precious resource, our Native American men and women.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to address this
important matter. The department will continue to work closely
with our Federal, tribal and State partners to strengthen our
efforts to combat human trafficking in Indian Country.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Thompson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Jason Thompson, Acting Deputy Director, Justice
Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
Good afternoon Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and members of
the Committee. My name is Jason Thompson and I am the Acting Director
for the Office of Justice Services (OJS) in the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) at the Department of the Interior (Department). I am
pleased to provide a statement on behalf of the Department on the topic
of the Committee's oversight hearing on the Government Accountability
Office's Report: ``Human Trafficking of American Indians and Alaska
Natives in the United States.''
The BIA has a service population of about 1.7 million American
Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 567 federally recognized
tribes. The BIA supports 191 law enforcement programs with 40 BIA-
operated programs and 151 tribally-operated programs. Approximately 79
percent of the total BIA OJS programs are contracted with tribes as
authorized under Public Law 93-638, as amended, or compacted with
tribes as authorized under Title IV of the Indian Self Determination
and Education Assistance Act, as amended. Additionally, many tribes
supplement OJS funding with funding from the tribe's treasury, grants
from the Department of Justice (DOJ), or other sources. Under Public
Law 83-280 and similar legislation, the remaining tribes rely on state
and local law enforcement to combat major crimes.
OJS provides a wide range of law enforcement services to Indian
country. These services include uniform police services, criminal
investigations, detention program management, tribal courts, drug
enforcement, internal affairs and officer training by the Indian Police
Academy. OJS is statutorily responsible for enforcing federal law and,
with the consent of a tribe, tribal law within Indian country. With
this great responsibility, OJS takes every opportunity to enhance our
abilities to protect our tribal citizens and communities.
As human trafficking has grown in areas across the United States,
Indian country has not been immune to the criminal elements exploiting
the vulnerabilities of Native Americans and the lack of law enforcement
presence in some areas. Since human trafficking knows no borders,
inter-agency collaboration is vital to our efforts to foster safe and
thriving Native communities. To combat human trafficking, the Division
of Drug Enforcement (DDE) within OJS has been tasked with leading
investigations of human trafficking violations affecting Indian
country. Due to the close association of trafficking to drug and
prostitution cases, the Division of Drug Enforcement is most closely
aligned to these types of crimes.
Over the past three years, OJS has been contacted by tribes
reporting an increase in prostitution and human trafficking activity
occurring on their reservations. OJS has also reported an increase in
sex trafficking occurring on or near Indian country enterprises. The
most prevalent activity occurs around areas with high transit
populations, such as tribal gaming operations, hotels, and travel
plazas.
It is OJS's experience that prostitution networks target highly
populated tribal venues for their operations, sometimes traveling from
out of state to commit these acts. Although prostitution and human
trafficking are not the same, the presence of prostitution networks can
indicate high levels of vulnerability, exploitation, and coercion that
contribute to trafficking.
In addition, over the past three years OJS has made an effort to
improve the collection and maintenance of its data on human
trafficking. The improvements allow for the collection of more specific
data on human trafficking investigations, thus providing OJS with the
ability to better track and evaluate the level of human trafficking
violations occurring in Indian country.
Investigative Efforts
OJS has partnered with other federal and state law enforcement
agencies in efforts to identify and dismantle human trafficking
operations occurring in and around Indian country. Over the past four
years, OJS has conducted 12 human trafficking investigations.
Below are the combined results from the 12 investigations:
12 of 23 defendants were charged with Engaging in Prostitution
1 was sentenced to 5 years incarceration with the first 4
years suspended
3 received a suspended sentence for 1 year
5 received a deferred sentence for 1 or 2 years
1 was fined and fine was paid in full
2 have outstanding warrants
6 of 23 defendants were charged with Solicitation of Prostitution
5 received deferred sentences for either 1, 2 or 3 years
1 received a suspended sentence for 10 years, 2 years
supervised probation
5 of 23 defendants were charged with Pandering
1 was sentence to 10 years incarceration
1 has a suspended sentence for 20 years
1 has a deferred sentence for 10 years
2 defendants cases were dismissed in tribal court and the
state and federal courts declined to prosecute
Sentencing summary of 23 defendants
2 were sentenced to incarceration
6 received suspended sentences
12 received deferred sentences
1 received a fine only
3 awaiting court proceedings
2 have outstanding warrants
Training Efforts
The Indian Police Academy (IPA) provides human trafficking training
to new BIA and tribal police officers attending the Indian Country
Police Officer Training Program and to field supervisors during
advanced training. The course familiarizes officers with the issues of
human trafficking in Indian country, legal considerations,
identification of indicators, and how to assist victims and effectively
initiate an investigation. To date, the academy has trained 414
officers in human trafficking training in basic and/or advanced
training programs.
Additionally, IPA has partnered with the Department of Homeland
Security- Blue Campaign and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for
the development of Human Trafficking in Indian Country training videos
for inclusion in a future, instructor-led, and online training program.
The OJS Victim Assistance Program also provides Native American
Human Trafficking training throughout Indian country communities, at
both the local and regional levels. For instance, this year OJS
partnered with the National Indian Gaming Commission to provide Native
American Human Trafficking training at each of its regional
conferences, with the target audience including gaming commissioners,
operations staff, hotel and casino staff, as well as tribal leaders and
community members.
These training sessions include information on the dynamics of
human trafficking victimization, indicators, vulnerabilities, and
strategies communities can take to prevent or respond to human
trafficking. Through education and training, OJS will continue to
educate the public and tribal enterprises on how to identify indicators
of human trafficking and reporting to law enforcement. OJS agents will
continue to sharpen their investigative skills and identify new ways to
target criminal networks that exploit our most precious resources; our
Native American men, women and children.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to address such an
important matter. The Department will continue to work closely with our
federal, tribal and state partners to strengthen our efforts to combat
human trafficking in Indian country.
I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Ms. Matthews.
STATEMENT OF NICOLE MATTHEWS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINNESOTA
INDIAN WOMEN'S SEXUAL ASSAULT COALITION
Ms. Matthews. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman
Udall, Senator Franken and distinguished members of the
Committee.
[Greeting in Native tongue.]
Ms. Matthews. Greetings, my relatives. My English name is
Nicole Matthews. My Indian name is Spirit Bird Woman. I am
Eagle clan and I am from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
I am truly honored to have the opportunity to speak with
you today about human trafficking of American Indian and Alaska
Natives in the United States.
I was one of five interviewers for our research on
prostitution and trafficking of American Indian and Alaska
Native women in Minnesota where we interviewed 105 of our
Native sisters about their experiences of being used in
prostitution and trafficking. The title of our report is Garden
of Truth: the Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in
Minnesota.
The women we interviewed had been trafficked on and off the
reservation in urban and rural areas and nearly all met the
legal definition of trafficking. About half the women said they
gave most of their money to a pimp and 86 percent of the women
reported deception and trickery as their entry into
trafficking.
We learned that oftentimes historical trauma and childhood
sexual abuse were a precursor or antecedent for the women who
were used in trafficking. In fact, 79 percent of the women we
interviewed were sexually abused as children by an average of
four perpetrators. Sixty-seven percent of victims reported that
they had family members who were sent to boarding schools and
most of them were abused in those boarding schools.
We also learned that women faced incredible violence,
including rape, physical violence and racial violence. When we
asked the women who they saw buying and selling American Indian
and Alaska Native women, the overwhelming response was White,
followed by African American men.
These statistics are consistent with Federal DOJ reports on
violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women which
state that the primary perpetrators of violence is perpetrated
by non-Indian men. The victims we interviewed talked at length
about their needs, which are consistent with the GAO reports
released this year. There is a need for culturally-specific
programs by and for American Indian and Alaska Native women to
specifically address sex trafficking.
Many victims are not accessing victim service programs for
domestic or sexual violence because of perceived stigma and
shame. The victims also fear losing their children or being
arrested and charged with prostitution.
Services also need to address housing. Short term and long
term housing is a huge issue for victims. In fact, 98 percent
of the women we interviewed were currently or previously
homeless. Being homeless is a major risk factor in being
vulnerable to pimps and traffickers.
I am concerned with the GAO report finding that for the
years 2013 to 2016, there were only 14 Federal investigations
and 2 Federal prosecutions of human trafficking offenses in
Indian Country. Only two Federal prosecutions for this three-
year period are disturbing given the realities of our research
and information from those we work with in tribal communities.
The GAO report also highlights the lack of adequate
resources to support culturally-specific services for Native
victims of trafficking. The report states that of the 45 grant
programs that mention human trafficking as an allowable issue
to devote resources, only two address human trafficking in
tribal communities exclusively. Given this minimal response to
trafficking, I am also particularly concerned about the
trafficking of Alaska Native women and girls given the lack of
any law enforcement services and very limited services in many
Alaska Native villages.
Twenty-one percent of the women we interviewed mentioned
being trafficked on reservations. Since we know that primary
buyers and sellers are non-Indian, we must address the
jurisdictional challenges that prevent tribes from holding
these perpetrators accountable.
We need increased accountability for buyers and sellers and
increased safety for American Indian and Alaska Native victims
in sex trafficking. Nearly all the women spoke of other women
they knew who had been taken by pimps and traffickers and never
heard from again.
There are also major gaps in the available information. We
have heard anecdotal information about the high rates of
trafficking for Two Spirit/LGTBQ relatives but there is no
concrete data to tell the full story yet.
Two Spirit relatives are even further invisibilized and
harmed by trafficking and we each have a responsibility to be
good relatives and ensure we are doing everything we can to
address violence experienced by all our relatives and community
members.
Another gap in data is around labor trafficking. We know it
is happening, we hear anecdotal stories but we just do not have
any data to provide a full understanding of the problem.
I invite each and every one of you to reach out to the
Native community to meet with and listen to American Indian and
Alaska Native victims and survivors of trafficking. They can
teach us so much. We must be open to listening to them as we
continue to address human trafficking.
In closing, I want to end with a quote from one of the
survivors we interviewed from our Garden of Truth report who
also passed away this last month. In our research, the women
chose flower names as their identifiers. This woman chose the
name Violet.
Violet was kidnapped at age 12 and taken to another State
where she was trafficked. She said ``Women like myself need
someone they feel they can trust without being judged about how
they lived their life. We don't wake up and choose to become a
whore, a hooker or a ho, as they call us. We need someone to
understand where we came from, how we lived and that half of us
were raped, beat and made to sell our bodies. We need people
with hearts.'' I hope all of you are those people.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Matthews follows:]
Prepared Statement of Nicole Matthews, Executive Director, Minnesota
Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, Senator Franken, and
distinguished members of the Committee,
Boozhoo Indinawe-maaganag! Nicole Matthews Zhaaginaashimong.
Manidoo- Bineshiikwe indigo. Migizi indoodem. Gaa-waabaabiganiikaag
indoonjibaa.
Greetings my relatives! My English name is Nicole Matthews, and my
Indian name is Spirit Bird Woman. I am Eagle clan, and I am from the
White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
I am truly honored to have the opportunity to speak with you today
about human trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Natives in the
United States.
I am the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual
Assault Coalition, which is a statewide tribal coalition and a national
tribal technical assistance provider. We provide technical assistance
to Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program grantees, to tribes who are
addressing or want to address sex trafficking, and we are the lead
technical assistance provider for OVC's Beacon Project, which addresses
sex trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native women in urban
areas.
I was one of five interviewers for our research on prostitution and
trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native women in Minnesota,
where we interviewed 105 American Indian and Alaska Native women about
their experiences of being used in prostitution and trafficking. The
title of our report is Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and
Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota.
The women we interviewed had been trafficked on and off the
reservations; in urban and rural areas; and nearly all met the legal
definition of trafficking. About 50 percent of the women said they gave
most of their money to a pimp, and 86 percent of the women reported
deception and trickery as their entry into trafficking.
We learned that oftentimes, historical trauma and childhood sexual
abuse were a precursor or antecedent for the women who were used in
trafficking. In fact, 79 percent of the women we interviewed were
sexually abused as children, by an average of four perpetrators; and 67
percent of victims reported that they had family members who were sent
to boarding schools, and most were abused in those boarding schools.
We also learned that the women faced incredible violence, including
rape, physical violence, and racial violence. When we asked the women
who they saw buying and selling American Indian and Alaska Native
women, the overwhelming response was White followed by African American
men. These statistics are consistent with federal Department of Justice
reports on violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women,
which state that the primary perpetrators of violence is perpetrated by
non-Indian men.
The victims we interviewed talked at length about their needs,
which are consistent with the GAO reports that have been released this
year. There is a need for culturally specific programs--by and for
American Indian and Alaska Native women--to specifically address sex
trafficking. Many victims are not accessing victim service programs for
domestic or sexual violence because of perceived stigma and shame. The
victims also fear losing their children or being arrested and charged
with prostitution. Services also need to address housing; short-term
and long-term housing is a huge issue for victims. In fact, 98 percent
of the women we interviewed were currently or previously homeless.
Being homeless is a major risk factor in being vulnerable to pimps and
traffickers.
I am concerned with the GAO report finding that for the years of
2013-2016, there were only 14 federal investigations, and 2 federal
prosecutions of human trafficking offenses in Indian Country. Only 2
federal prosecutions for this three-year period is disturbing given the
reality of our research and information from those who we work with in
tribal communities. The GAO report also highlights the lack of adequate
resources to support culturally specific services for Native victims of
trafficking. The report states that of the 45 grant programs that
mention human trafficking as an allowable issue to devote resources to,
only 2 address human trafficking in tribal communities exclusively.
Given this minimal response to trafficking I am particularly concerned
about the trafficking of Alaska Native women and girls given the lack
of any law enforcement services and very limited services in many
Alaska Native villages.
Twenty-one percent of the women we interviewed mentioned being
trafficked on reservations, and since we know that the primary buyer
and seller is non-Indian, we must address the jurisdictional challenges
that prevents tribes from holding these perpetrators accountable. We
need increased accountability for buyers and sellers and increased
safety for American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex
trafficking. Nearly all of the women spoke of women they knew who had
been taken by pimps and traffickers, and never heard from again.
There are also major gaps in the information that is available. We
have heard anecdotal information about the high rates of trafficking of
our Two Spirit/LGBTQ relatives, but there isn't any concrete data to
tell the full story yet. Our organization has been in communication
with the researcher from our project, and we are hoping to address this
need in the near future. Our Two Spirit relatives are even further
invisibilized and harmed by trafficking, and we each have a
responsibility to be good relatives and ensure that we are doing
everything we can to address the violence experienced by ALL of our
relatives and community members.
Another gap in data is around labor trafficking. We know that it is
happening, and that it is occurring in some communities more than
others, but we don't have data to provide a full understanding of the
problem.
I invite each and every one of you to reach out to the Native
community--to meet with and listen to American Indian and Alaska Native
victims and survivors of trafficking. They can teach us so much, and we
must be open to listening to them as we continue to address human
trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native women.
In closing, I want to end with a quote from one of the survivors
that we interviewed for our Garden of Truth report. In our research,
the women chose flower names as their identifiers, and this woman chose
the name Violet. Violet was kidnapped at age 12 and taken to another
state where she was trafficked. She said, ``Women like myself need
someone they feel they can trust without being judged by how they lived
their life. We didn't wake up and choose to become a whore or a hooker
or a 'ho' as they call us. We need someone to understand where we came
from and how we lived and that half of us were raped, beat, and made to
sell our bodies. We need people with hearts.''
Miigwetch Bizidawiyeg! Thank you all for listening!
The Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Matthews.
Ms. McCain.
STATEMENT OF CINDY McCAIN, CO-CHAIR, ARIZONA GOVERNOR'S HUMAN
TRAFFICKING COUNCIL
Ms. McCain. Chairman Hoeven and Vice Chairman Udall, thank
you very much for the opportunity to testify before the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs on this issue of human trafficking
of American Indians and Native Alaskans.
I also want to thank my husband, Senator John McCain, for
his tireless work on the issues facing our Arizona tribes and
the tribes throughout the United States. He made me say that.
[Laughter.]
Ms. McCain. First, I must express my deepest appreciation
to the members of the Committee and the Government
Accountability Office for examining the Federal Government's
role in reporting, investigating and prosecuting cases of
trafficking involving Indian Country. The issue does not often
receive the attention it deserves.
I would also like to acknowledge Senator Heidi Heitkamp's
efforts as an anti-trafficking ally. Senator Heitkamp has
traveled to Arizona where she and I met with one of our Native
American service providers to discuss replicating the
culturally-sensitive care model in her State.
Senator Heitkamp also graciously asked me to participate in
an anti-trafficking roundtable in Bismarck, North Dakota where
we met with law enforcement officials and victims service
providers working in the Bakken region.
The remoteness of the Bakken region, the high unemployment
rate of nearby Indian reservations, combined with the oil and
gas boom have created a hot bed of trafficking. Victims are
mostly Native American women and girls transported to the
region specifically for sex trafficking. Many of these victims
are under the age of 18, children being sold for sex, outward
and organized crime of child abuse and rape.
Because of their exotic beauty, Native American girls are
also sold at a very high price on websites like backpage.com.
Backpage has been found to be complicit in writing the ads that
vaguely attempt to disguise the sale of these precious children
for sex. In other words, Backpage knowingly promotes the abuse
of our beautiful Native American children along with other
ethnicities. All too often, they are kidnapped, sold and
transported to remote places like Asia and even the Middle
East.
You may be asking yourself, what happens to these girls?
Sadly, they are disposable. They disappear at the hands of
these despicable traffickers. According to international labor
organizations, human trafficking has enslaved an estimated 41
million people in the United States and around the world.
Victims are used for forced labor, forced sex and face
daily physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of
their pimps or strangers. In many cases, this form of child
abuse is a product of organized crime.
However, Native American girls and women are all too often
trafficked by their own relatives, both on and off the
reservation. Indian gaming and urbanized tribes have presented
us with a new set of trafficking issues. I witnessed with my
own eyes six little girls lined up against a wall inside a
casino just outside of Phoenix on display for customers. These
children were silent and visibly scared.
I contacted hotel security. Unsure what they should do,
security personnel allowed the children to remain at the
casino. I have found that Native Americans are largely
overlooked as victims.
One of the major impediments to prosecuting individuals and
criminal organizations is the lack of victim services designed
by and for Native victims. Traumatized victims are seldom
willing to reveal their identities or testify against their
captors. However, culturally sensitive victim assistance
programs can and do empower women and children to breach the
shadows of this horrific under world.
To that end, I would like to commend Chairman Hoeven for
reintroducing the SURVIVE Act, a bill that would set aside $150
million from the Federal Government's $3 billion Crime Victims
Fund to improve victim assistance programs for Indian tribes.
Another piece of bipartisan legislation that would help
considerably to prevent trafficking is S. 1693, the Stop
Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, SESTA. Last week, the
Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on SESTA and the bill
currently has 30 co-sponsors.
I have been a long-time advocate of curtailing the ability
of Backpage and similar websites to sell any human being online
for sex. Over 75 percent of trafficking victims tell us they
were sold online. We have found it easier to sell a child
online for sex than it is to buy a bicycle or a sofa.
It is high time that our courts stop enabling Backpage and
others to hide behind the free speech curtain while mothers
find their children advertised for sex online and are powerless
to stop it. The Communications Decency Act was not intended to
allow websites to make millions of dollars selling our children
for sex.
We should not stop there. I encourage Congress to consider
assigning staff in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian
Health Service and their sister agencies, to train tribal
leaders, elders, prosecutors and law enforcement agents about
the presence of human trafficking within their own communities.
Create awareness and victims' services unique to Native
Americans. My own home State of Arizona is doing just that on
every reservation within our borders.
Finally, Congress must encourage tribal governments to
criminalize human trafficking on their reservations rather than
simply defer to Federal prosecutors. I am proud to say that the
Navajo Nation, the largest tribal government in the United
States, recently adopted their first anti-trafficking laws. It
is a start for the Navajo and should be followed by tougher
tribal enforcement and cooperation with Federal agencies.
On a personal note, I was born and raised in Arizona.
Throughout my life, I have had the opportunity to enjoy the
beauty, the unique culture, the art, the story telling and the
friendship of these glorious people. Their extraordinary
culture is a part of the very fiber of my home State. Native
American girls and women should be able to live their lives in
safety without the fear of being subjected to this despicable
and very dark crime of human trafficking. We owe that to them.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I am very grateful that the Committee
is holding this hearing today. I appreciate your listening to
what I have to say. I look forward to answering questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. McCain follows:]
Prepared Statement of Cindy McCain, Co-Chair, Arizona Governor's Human
Trafficking Council
Chairman Hoeven and Vice Chairman Udall, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on
the issue of human trafficking of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
I want to also thank my husband, Senator John McCain, for his tireless
work on the issues facing our Arizona tribes and tribes throughout the
United States.
First, I must express my deepest appreciation to the members of the
Committee and the Government Accountability Office for examining the
federal government's role in reporting, investigating, and prosecuting
cases of trafficking involving Indian Country. This issue does not
often receive the attention that it deserves.
I would also like to acknowledge Senator Heidi Heitkamp's efforts
as an anti-trafficking ally. Senator Heitkamp has traveled to Arizona,
where she and I met one of our Native American service providers to
discuss replicating their culturally sensitive care model in her state.
Senator Heitkamp also graciously asked me to participate in an anti-
trafficking roundtable in Bismarck, North Dakota, where we met with law
enforcement officials and victim service providers working in the
Bakken region. The remoteness of the Bakken area, the high unemployment
rate of nearby Indian reservations, combined with the oil and gas boom,
have created a hotbed of trafficking. Victims are mostly Native
American women and girls transported to the region specifically for sex
trafficking. Many of these victims are under the age of 18. Children
being sold for sex. Outward and organized child abuse and rape.
Because of their exotic beauty, Native girls are also sold for a
very high price on websites like backpage.com. Backpage has been found
to be complicit in writing ads that vaguely attempt to disguise the
selling of these precious children for sex. In other words, Backpage
knowingly promotes the abuse of our beautiful Native American children
along with other ethnicities. All too often they are kidnapped, sold,
and transported to remote places like Asia and the Middle East. You may
be asking yourself, what happens to these girls? Sadly, they are
treated as disposable. They disappear at the hands of these despicable
traffickers.
Human trafficking has enslaved an estimated 41 million people in
the United States and around the world. Victims are used for forced
labor or forced sex, and face daily physical, emotional, and sexual
abuse at the hands of their pimps or strangers. In many cases, this
form of child abuse is a product of organized crime. However, Native
American girls and women are all too often trafficked by their own
relatives.
Indian gaming and urbanizing tribes are presenting a new set of
trafficking issues. I witnessed with my own eyes 6 little girls lined
up against a wall in a casino outside of Phoenix on display for
customers.
These children were silent and visibly scared. I contacted hotel
security. Unsure what to do, security personnel allowed the children to
remain at the casino. I have found that Native Americans are largely
overlooked as victims.
One of the major impediments to prosecuting individuals and
criminal organizations is a lack of victims services designed by and
for Native victims. Traumatized victims are seldom willing to reveal
their identities or testify against their captors. However, culturally
sensitive victim assistance programs can and do empower women and
children to breach the shadows of this horrific underworld.
To that end, I would like to commend Chairman Hoeven for
reintroducing the SURVIVE Act, a bill that would set-aside $150 million
from the federal government's $3 billion Crime Victims Fund to improve
victims assistance programs for Indian tribes. Another piece of
bipartisan legislation that would help considerably to prevent
trafficking is S. 1693, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017
(or ``SESTA''). Last week the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing
on SESTA and the bill currently has 30 cosponsors. I have been a
longtime advocate of curtailing the ability of backpage.com and similar
websites to sell human beings for sex online. Over 75 percent of
trafficking victims tell us that they were sold online as easily as
selling a bicycle or a sofa. It is high time that traffickers stop
hiding behind the free speech curtain while mothers find their children
advertised for sex online and are powerless to stop it. The
Communications Decency Act was not intended to allow websites to make
millions of dollars selling our children for sex.
We shouldn't stop there. I encourage Congress to consider assigning
staff in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, and
their sister agencies to train Tribal leaders, elders, prosecutors, and
law enforcement agents about the presence of human trafficking within
their own communities. Create awareness and victim services unique to
Native Americans. My own home state of Arizona is doing just that on
every reservation within our borders.
Finally, Congress must encourage tribal governments to criminalize
human trafficking on their reservations rather than simply defer to
federal prosecutors. I am proud to say that the Navajo Nation, the
largest tribal government in the United States, recently adopted their
first anti-trafficking laws. It is a start for the Navajo and should be
followed by tougher tribal enforcement and cooperation with federal
agencies.
On a personal note: I was born and raised in Arizona. Throughout my
life, I have had the opportunity to enjoy the beauty, the unique
culture, the art, the story telling and friendship of these glorious
people. Their unique culture is a part of the very fiber of my state.
Native American girls and women should be able to live their lives in
safety, without the fear of being subjected to this despicable and very
dark crime of human trafficking. We owe that to them.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I am very grateful that the Committee is
holding today's hearing. I look forward to answering any questions you
may have. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you and all our witnesses for being
here today.
We will have five-minute rounds of questioning. I would
like to start with Dr. Goodwin.
In the July 24 GAO report, the review identified two
Federal investigations in Indian Country that led to
prosecutions, yet nationwide, there were over 6,100 Federal
human trafficking investigations. Why do you think there is a
wide disparity?
Ms. Goodwin. At the time we did our review, that is the
information the Department of Justice provided to us. We are
aware and have heard that there have been a number of other
investigations open but at the time of our review, they told us
there had only been two Federal prosecutions.
The Chairman. You also make recommendations regarding
gathering metrics. Would you go into that a bit? How can this
help make a difference? What should be done and how can it
help?
Ms. Goodwin. Across both reports, we talk about the need
for targeting services to the population. One of the things
that came out of the first report and also with the second
report is if you do not have the data, it can sometimes be
difficult to figure out what services need to be provided to a
particular population.
We made the recommendation that the DOJ, one, start
collecting data on human trafficking victims and two, where
possible, start collecting data on the number of Native
American victims that were being served by the service
providers. We thought that would be a good way to help the
agency and the service providers target their services to the
communities.
The Chairman. Mr. Toulou, would you respond to that and
talk about gathering that data, why it is not being done, what
we can do to gather it, and what you think the effectiveness of
that would be?
Mr. Toulou. I think we all understand all the data we can
get is good, it is better, but when talked to our service
providers, the individuals providing services to these victims
about mandating collection of ethnicity, whether they were
Indian or not, the service providers told us that would have a
chilling effect on victims coming forward to access their
services.
We have asked service providers to voluntarily provide that
information if individuals want to volunteer it. However, our
primary goal as an agency is to take care of victims and after
that, put the bad guys in jail and try to prevent crime.
Our primary focus is on the victims. Our victim service
providers work with these people every day and told us this
would have a chilling effect. That is why we have said if it is
voluntary information, great, but we are not going to mandate
that from our grantees.
The Chairman. Your recommendation is it be done on a
voluntary basis?
Mr. Toulou. Yes. We have asked our providers if they can do
that to provide that information to us and we will track that
information.
The Chairman. Dr. Goodwin, was that discussed and what is
your reaction to that?
Ms. Goodwin. When we were thinking through our
recommendations, we did have conversations with DOJ. So we
heard and we appreciate and understand the concerns about the
chilling environment. At the time, that was the March report.
We had our survey out in the field, so we were beginning to
collect data. At the time we made the recommendation, we
understood that some of the service providers were already
collecting data on whether the victims were Native American and
they were able to provide that information to us via our
survey. We recognize the chilling effect it has and understand
the issues around confidentiality, but we do believe in order
to one, better target your services, it is important to know
the victims and who you are serving.
Also, it is an oversight issue. If you are getting a grant,
if you have monies, more than likely the agency is going to
want to know who you are serving. If you start doing an
economic efficiency analysis, it would be good to know if those
services are being targeted the best way possible and if they
are going to the right communities.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Toulou and Mr. Thompson, could you respond to that?
Mr. Toulou. I am not clear that we need to know the
ethnicity of the victim to provide services. That is what we
are doing. These are victim service providers, people who are
working with the victims of crime, making sure they get the
counseling they need, access to health services and things of
that sort.
Ethnicity may be helpful to us in the long run knowing
those things but it is not critical to providing those services
or knowing if those services are provided. Again, the bottom
line is we do not want to do anything that is going to keep the
victim from coming to our victim service providers and getting
services they need.
The Chairman. Mr. Thompson.
Mr. Thompson. From a law enforcement perspective, I think
for us, we serve Indian communities within the exterior
boundaries of Indian reservations, so the collection of that
data for us, we do not see quite the same disparity over
victims wanting to provide that information.
BIA, as of 2014, I believe does collect that information in
our basic crime reporting. However, as I said, our jurisdiction
is primarily those folks, the folks committing crimes, the
folks that are victims of crime who are Native American. We
have an ability to find out that information from their tribal
enrollment boards with the tribes.
The Chairman. I have a follow-up question but I will turn
to Vice Chairman Udall because I think he is going to ask the
same question.
Senator Udall. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
GAO noted that HHS had begun a pilot program to collect
similar data for their grant programs that support crime victim
services. In the second report, GAO found that some law
enforcement agencies and service providers already collect
information on the Native American status of human trafficking
victims.
Dr. Goodwin, could you tell us more about the HHS pilot and
how it might be a model for DOJ to consider?
Ms. Goodwin. We reached back out to HHS and they are in the
process of starting that pilot. They believe, and we
understand, being able to know whether or not you are serving
Native American victims really does help target those services.
In our survey, the second report where we conducted the
survey, we got a number of responses about what types of
culturally specific programs and services would be useful when
you are targeting the Native American population. The HHS
survey and the pilot program will assist with that on their
end.
Senator Udall. Mr. Toulou, if HHS can provide this
information without compromising the identity of victims would
it be possible to require the same type of reporting uniformly
across all agencies?
Mr. Toulou. Yes. I would point out that we have talked to
HHS. What they are doing now is an inventory of collection
techniques, not actually mandating this information. It is our
understanding they are hearing the same things from some of
their providers that we are hearing, that this will have a
chilling effect. However, if they can find a way around it, we
agree, more data is better and we will work with them to
replicate whatever they determine.
Senator Udall. You will follow that closely?
Mr. Toulou. Yes, we will.
Senator Udall. Ms. Matthews and Mrs. McCain, based on your
experiences working with organizations combating human
trafficking, is there a way to improve data collection without
jeopardizing victim safety and privacy? What would you
recommend as far as Federal data collection best practices?
Ms. Matthews. You do not want to compromise victim safety.
As far as best practices, I think we need to get to a place
where we even have programs that are serving victims. We have
very few programs serving victims and only a few grant programs
to specifically address sex trafficking.
If you have a program that is serving domestic violence,
sexual violence and can also serve victims of sex trafficking,
oftentimes we are not seeing that. Until we get to a place
where we have some adequate funding, it is hard to imagine a
great data collection system. If you ask someone are you a
victim of trafficking, are you Native American and you do not
have services to follow up, then it can potentially cause more
harm.
Senator Udall. Mrs. McCain.
Ms. McCain. I agree with that. I would go a step farther in
that the service providers should be ethnically and culturally
similar to where the victims are from. This goes for any group.
I think you would find our victims perhaps a little more
willing to talk about where they are from, who they are, and so
forth and helping with the data collection. Right now, the one
place in Phoenix that does this is combined with what you said.
It has drug issues and a number of different issues that are
experienced within the reservation.
Our trafficking victims, instead of getting long term
trauma-based care, are getting sometimes 12 step programs and
other things, all helpful but not if you have been a victim of
human trafficking.
I might also add you need to have buy-in from the tribal
councils. All of this is just fine but tribal councils have to
realize and tribes have to realize that internally, this is
wrong. It is wrong. I think it is up to us who work in this
arena and work on the issue itself to begin just that process
much like what happened on the Navajo Nation in helping them
realize it is important that they buy in on this and we all
work together on the issue.
Senator Udall. Thank you for those responses.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator McCain.
Senator McCain. Dr. Goodwin, how long have you been
involved in this issue of sex trafficking?
Ms. Goodwin. For about two years now, I have been doing
this work for the GAO.
Senator McCain. Would you assess that the extent of the
problem has become better, the same or worse?
Ms. Goodwin. In the research we have done, we have heard
from pretty much everyone we have spoken to that one, this
crime is under reported, so no one really knows the full extent
to which it is happening; and two, for the second report, we
talked with some of the tribal law enforcement agencies. They
felt it is increasing.
Senator McCain. Do you think they are being perfectly frank
and candid with you about this issue?
Ms. Goodwin. As far as I know, yes, as frank and candid as
they would be with the GAO.
Senator McCain. I understand there is skepticism there.
As Cindy McCain just said, reporting is a big problem. That
has to be people that can be trusted by the tribal members. Do
you find that to be an issue?
Ms. Goodwin. Yes, we do. In the second report when we did
the survey, we ended up having lengthy conversations with the
Minneapolis Police Department. They talked with us about some
of the activities that they have undertaken to build better
relationships with the community so that the community would
indeed start coming forward to report instances of human
trafficking.
One of the things we talk about in that report is we try to
speak to the need for building relationships between law
enforcement and the communities, in addition to the service
providers and the communities.
Senator McCain. Have you found cross-the-border sex
trafficking to be on the increase?
Ms. Goodwin. That was not the focus of our report. The GAO
has another team that does international trafficking. I can get
some information for you and provide that to you later.
Senator McCain. Have you found it to be connected to drug
trafficking?
Ms. Goodwin. During the survey and in our conversations
with major city law enforcement and tribal law enforcement,
drug trafficking did come up and oftentimes they told us
whenever they saw human trafficking, drugs were also involved.
Senator McCain. Was that your finding, Mr. Thompson?
Mr. Thompson. Yes, sir, it is. Almost all our human
trafficking cases have been surrounding drug trafficking and/or
prostitution rings.
Senator McCain. Which is one of the tools for enslavement?
Mr. Thompson. Correct.
Senator McCain. Ms. Matthews?
Ms. Matthews. We have also seen a large connection with
drugs and sex trafficking, used also to get people into sex
trafficking and also to keep them there and maintain control
over them.
Also, we have heard that pimps and traffickers can resell a
woman several times where you have to keep repurchasing drugs,
so it is much more lucrative for them to continue selling
peoples' bodies. Oftentimes you see them hand in hand.
Senator McCain. Dr. Goodwin, your report examined more than
50 different Federal grants intended to support victim services
and found that DOJ generally does not track how these grants
specifically benefit Native victims of trafficking. Isn't that
a problem?
Ms. Goodwin. That is one of the reasons why we made the
recommendation that we made. In order for DOJ to better
understand the effect and full extent of the services they are
providing, GAO felt the Native American status needed to be
collected.
Additionally, for performance management purposes,
oversight purposes, if you have a grant, more than likely when
it comes time for a performance review, you would want to know
did the grant meet the goals it was intended to meet?
We are, of course, mindful that there are some
confidentiality issues, so the way we wrote the recommendation
was as appropriate. Again, when we did our survey, we had a
number of service providers provide information to us on the
Native American status of their victims so we know that
information is being collected.
Senator McCain. Mr. Toulou?
Mr. Toulou. I think it is absolutely appropriate to gather
the information if it is provided by the provider of services.
I think the problem is when it is made mandatory. I think any
information we get would be useful.
Senator McCain. Mr. Thompson, how serious is this problem
for law enforcement in general?
Mr. Thompson. It is a very serious problem. We have 30 drug
agents in our Division of Drug Enforcement. We have assigned
those agents to specific investigations related to narcotics
and human trafficking. That is all that they do because the
substance abuse issues and the issues of human trafficking are
on the rise for us.
You asked the question earlier of some of the other
witnesses. I can tell you that four or five years ago, I do not
know that we had any human trafficking cases we were
investigating. We have had 14 in the last three years. Two of
those were in the last week. I cannot tell you that is
necessarily evidence of a rise, but it is certainly an
indication to us that the resources committed there are not
sufficient to keep up with what is there.
We do not know exactly why there is hesitancy to report.
Obviously, there is a distrust of law enforcement in Indian
communities oftentimes. That is not the case just in Indian
Country, that is the case all across the United States.
Senator McCain. I thank the witnesses and thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Tester.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Goodwin, did the GAO study you did deal with labor
traffic and forced labor?
Ms. Goodwin. We did. In the survey we undertook, we asked
about sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
Senator Tester. What did you find? Was it prevalent at all?
Ms. Goodwin. The respondents talked more about sex
trafficking than they did about labor trafficking.
Senator Tester. Did you get any hits on labor trafficking?
Ms. Goodwin. When we went on one of our site visits and had
conversation with some of the major city law enforcement
agencies, they talked about labor trafficking on the
reservations, but not of Native Americans. They actually talked
with us about labor trafficking of Asian Americans or Asian
immigrants on those reservations.
Senator Tester. Do you know of any surveys that are done on
human trafficking, maybe this is a better question for Cindy if
she can answer it, human trafficking overall in the Country? Is
there a greater prevalence of human trafficking in Indian
Country than there is outside of Indian Country?
Ms. Goodwin. We did not conduct that research. Probably
Mrs. McCain would have more because my understanding is that
she is working with a group that is trying to assess
prevalence.
Ms. McCain. Per capita, yes, it is very high on the
reservations. A big issue which we talked about a little bit
is, of course, economic empowerment. A large part of this is
because there is no future. Some of these women see no future
and the only way out may be going for this modeling job they
think is a real modeling job only it is not.
I might also add that part of a report the McCain Institute
has done is one that we combined with Arizona State University
which tracked specific trafficking issues during specific
events like Super Bowls or conventions, and so forth.
Proportionate to that, we tried to do the best we could on
finding out how many or if there were any Native American
victims involved in that. It is very hard to find. We were
doing it off Backpage and we worked with several other tech
companies to help us do this. It is very hard.
If you understand the writing to a lot of these online ads
and understand what they are trying to portray in code, then
you can find them. You have to think like a criminal to do it.
Senator Tester. Thank you.
Mr. Thompson, you said 12 were conducted and 2 more this
week, so you are up to 14. On page two, you go through the
results of the 12 investigations. There were 23 people found,
12 of which were engaged in prostitution. Those were not the
traffickers, were they? This is in your testimony.
Mr. Thompson. These were defendants related to those
investigations.
Senator Tester. I am assuming the 12 defendants charged
with engaging in prostitution were probably the people who were
trafficked?
Mr. Thompson. Yes, these were all defendants related to
those investigations, not necessarily traffickers.
Senator Tester. What happened to the traffickers?
Mr. Thompson. I do not know the details on each of the
cases but oftentimes we arrest actual prostitution.
Senator Tester. Prostitution is illegal, but if these
people were trafficked and forced into prostitution, why are we
punishing those folks?
Mr. Thompson. These would not have been people who were
trafficked. These would have been criminal prostitution folks.
These would have been adults with no evidence of being forced
into it or anything of that nature.
Senator Tester. So what does that have to do with
trafficking?
Mr. Thompson. They were in parts of those investigations.
Our trafficking investigations oftentimes encumber a lot of
other criminal elements that go into it, prostitution,
narcotics or illicit drugs.
Senator Tester. It may not be in here but I would sure like
to know what happened to the folks who are doing the
trafficking and if they are doing any time. I would also like
to know if we are throwing the people who were trafficked in
jail because that seems pretty harsh.
Mr. Thompson. Yes, sir. I do not believe that any of those
folks were actual victims of trafficking and I will find out
for sure, Senator Tester, and get you the information on those
traffickers as well.
Senator Tester. I am not a lawyer. What is pandering?
Mr. Thompson. I am sorry, sir?
Senator Tester. What is pandering?
Mr. Thompson. Pandering, you might help me out with the
legal definition, Tracy.
Mr. Toulou. It is an individual who is offering the victim
for sale.
Mr. Thompson. It is the pimp. We use that term.
Senator Tester. I am out of time so very quickly I will say
it is obvious we need better information. It is obvious we need
to invest in resources that actually get to the ground and do
some good.
I did not get to my last question which revolved around
education and how we can educate tribal councils and people on
the street about what is going on, and potential victims in the
schools or wherever we can get to them.
Thank you all for being here today. I appreciate your
testimony.
The Chairman. Senator Tester, obviously two of the
objectives here are better information, better metrics, as you
just said, and also resources, as Mrs. McCain said, to address
some of these very serious issues. Those are two of the primary
things we are driving at in this hearing.
Senator Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To follow up on the education piece, because I think this
is so important, we are talking about we want to get statistics
of the victims. I want to make sure we do not have any victims
because we have ruined peoples' lives. They will never, ever be
able to move beyond the trauma and the shame that has come with
this as a victim.
We need to do more when it comes to agencies working
together. I think about some of the community outreach. This
Friday in Anchorage, we are having a fundraiser for an
organization called Priceless.
Nicole, you mentioned Violet's words which really kind of
struck me. So many of these women feel afterwards that they may
make it through, they may be freed but they have been shamed
for so long, they feel they have no value and no worth anymore.
How we pull them out of that is what this group called
Priceless does, so there are a lot of us thinking about it.
Some of the efforts that are underway in the different
communities are how do you identify those that are being
trafficked. Working with Alaska Airlines so that flight
attendants know what to look for when they see a young girl who
may be unaccompanied and met somewhere or sitting next to
somebody and how they know I am not quite entirely sure. Maybe
we should be filled in on some of this as well.
I think about the different ways we can be working to
educate. Our State's largest Native gathering is coming up in
about three weeks, the AFN, Alaska Federation of Natives. Prior
to that big convention where Native people come from around the
entire State, there is a heightened awareness in the community
directed toward primarily young people to be aware, do not
accept the favors of somebody who says they want to take you to
Nordstrom's and buy you a pair of shoes and that type of thing.
Knowing that we have to do so much more when it comes to
the education, the awareness and thus, prevention, is something
it does not seem like we focus on. Mrs. McCain and Ms.
Matthews, I would appreciate a little bit of what you can
provide on that front.
I also want to make a comment to Mr. Toulou. You stated
that we do not need to know the ethnicity to provide the
victims services. I think about those victims' services that
are culturally relevant to a Navajo or Alaska Natives so that
women feel they can speak up and seek those services. If they
do not feel it is going to be helpful to them, I am a little
concerned about what you stated in terms of the privacy piece.
I understand that but I also understand that we must make
sure we are giving these women some glimmer of hope that if
they are able to come forward, they are going to be getting
that support and that support will make a difference to them.
It is not just some nameless, faceless program. I am going to
ask the three of you to weigh in with those three comments if I
may.
Ms. Matthews. As far as education and awareness, I think it
is critical. It is critical to reaching out and educating
potential victims and also critical to have education and
awareness for potential traffickers or people who are buying
and selling, to change the cultural norms and the social norms
that create that environment to happen.
I have two staff going to AFN who will actually be talking
about trafficking with some of the tribes up there. I think
education and awareness needs to be culturally-based and
community-based within that local tribe or community because
those are the most impactful on the women that we talked to
when we did talk about what would be helpful, whether it is
education or how to get out the information. They talked about
things that were culturally-based, by Native women, for Native
women. They wanted to be able to have a reflection of
themselves when they received that information.
Ms. McCain. I agree with Ms. Matthews. The culturally
sensitive, training and awareness of tribes is very important.
Local involvement, in Arizona, for example, we have taken our
local DPS officers from the region and they are doing training
and awareness on a Navajo reservation, on the Gila Reservation.
It is done all over the State actually.
The local involvement, including the tribes in what is
being planned or what is being thought about doing, is really,
really important. No longer can we tell them what to do, we
have to involve them. These are their children.
More importantly, as I mentioned with Indian gaming, that
is a whole different set of problems right there. Training
Navajo security people is a different deal than going up to the
reservation in some cases.
It all has to be very individual. In my opinion, it has to
be individual to the tribe, to the region, to the State and
needs to be consistent and ongoing.
Senator Murkowski. Mr. Toulou.
Mr. Toulou. If I gave the impression that cultural
sensitivity programming is not important, I misspoke and I
apologize. I think it is very important to make sure the
victims receive services that are appropriate which is part of
the reason we contract with Ms. Matthews' program, why we have
Project Beacon which is targeting urban Indian women in
Seattle, Albuquerque and Chicago.
When we do outreach on the reservation, we do that
appropriately. I was talking about a performance measure,
making sure we got the services out to victims. You are right,
it is so much more effective if it actually is culturally
sensitive.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Franken.
Senator Franken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thought Senator Heitkamp's opening was so on point in so
many ways. Ms. Matthews, in your 2011 report, the Garden of
Truth, you detailed the many factors leading Native women into
prostitution. The report discussed many victims' experiences
with homelessness, substance use disorders, poverty, sexual and
physical violence, and interactions with foster care or
adoptive placement.
The report also describes the experiences of Native
American women with racism and generational trauma developed
from targeting of Indian populations since we came here, since
colonial days.
The report references a fourth-generation survivor of
prostitution stating, ``Like many of the women we interviewed,
she spoke about the rapes of women in her family and her
resignation to sexual violence in her community.''
Ms. Matthews, I am interested in hearing more from you
about this generational trauma and how it leads Native women
into trafficking. I would especially like to hear your
recommendations on breaking the cycle of trauma since that
appears to be a key to preventing women from being trafficked.
Ms. Matthews. Seventy-nine percent of the women we
interviewed were victims of child sexual abuse. There is a
direct impact of colonization and the historical trauma that
our communities are facing.
For us, when we were interviewing the women, talking to the
women about child sexual abuse was very difficult. There was a
lot of trauma. They would share information about being used in
trafficking very easily. Just knowing how much trauma and
multiple forms of trauma the women are carrying really led to
us have conversations about how, one, we must get better at
addressing child sexual abuse. We are just not doing a good
enough job in addressing child sexual abuse.
We also need to get better at addressing mental and
behavioral health and how we are responding to trauma. We have
heard a lot about trauma and informed care in recent years. I
think we can do so much better in our understanding of trauma
and its impact on us to continue as we then have children and
are raising our children.
Half the women we interviewed were placed in foster care.
Half of them were abused in foster care. I think there are so
many issues that have impact and the historical trauma is
playing out in our families. We have to address homelessness,
the foster care system, and out of home placement for our
families. We really have to address child sexual abuse.
Senator Franken. I wanted to get to who is the customer for
this trafficking. The sense I get from the statistics I see
from the National Institute of Justice is that primarily these
are not Indians who are the customers.
Ms. Matthews. Correct.
Senator Franken. Senator Murkowski and I have sponsored
legislation before to give Indian Country the authority to
prosecute perpetrators who are not Indian in Indian Country.
You get the feeling that some of these Johns or if they are not
Johns and it is just sexual assault, they see this as open
territory. They can go there and not be prosecuted. Do you feel
that would be something that would be helpful?
Ms. Matthews. Absolutely. Any tools we can give our tribes
to hold perpetrators accountable on our tribal lands would be
amazing and would be a huge help in addressing violence against
Native women.
The level of violence that these sex buyers have as they
are looking to purchase Native women, one man said to a woman,
``I thought we killed all of you.'' That is the level of
violence the women are dealing with. I think absolutely
increased jurisdiction for tribes would be greatly beneficial.
Senator Franken. I have run out of time but I have a lot
questions obviously. One I specifically wanted to get out there
is on treatment. I know in drug addiction treatment a lot of
the counselors are recovering addicts or recovering alcoholics.
Is there a model for this? Mrs. McCain talked about
treatment being cultural but also being from Native Americans
themselves. Is there any model that includes women who have
recovered from or are in recovery from this victimhood, being
counselors or therapists of some sort?
Ms. Matthews. I have not seen any treatment program
specifically for survivors but the women we interviewed did say
the chemical dependency programs that were most beneficial were
culturally-based and incorporated cultural practices and
traditions within the treatment program itself.
Senator Franken. I am way out of time. I just want to ask
Mrs. McCain, it does not have to be now, about the Super Bowl
because we heard about Minneapolis and Nicole, you know about
Minneapolis. We have a Super Bowl coming. I would like to ask
your husband for your number.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Are you done?
Senator Franken. Yes. I thought that was a good line to end
on.
The Chairman. Senator Heitkamp.
Senator Heitkamp. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will start out with a story and it goes to what Ms.
Matthews was talking about.
Years ago, my uncle, who ran the community action program,
did one of the first return to work for women who had been in
pervasive poverty. I was a young college student and I once
asked him, what is the one thing you would change in their life
that would prevent them from being single moms and struggling
economically?
He said, I would stop sexual abuse of children because in
his experience working with these women, that was a common
factor. We cannot under estimate the trauma and the impact of
child sexual assault.
We know, looking at the statistics, and Cindy knows this,
that very many of these victims, I like to say it is not like
Laura Ingalls Wilder bounding through the prairie and the black
cloud swoops her up and gets her into trafficking. That could
happen; I am not discounting that.
Traditionally, these are children who have been thrown
away, they are in the foster care system; they have already
experienced dramatic sexual abuse in their lives. They feel
marginalized already so that makes them more readily victims.
We have to go back to the basics. The basics involve
trauma. I want to thank Senator Franken, along with Senators
Durbin, Booker and I who have really worked very hard on the
issue of trauma and trauma-based treatment. It is unique to the
population of Native Americans because of historic trauma.
I am glad Mr. Toulou brought some of what we have heard
back because I do not think you can treat Native American
victims without treating Native American victims culturally.
Cindy, I want to go over work you are doing right now and
that you will continue to do building on training because I
think a lot of what we are talking about here, at least in
terms of prosecution but also prevention, involves training.
We know that this has become a fairly popular issue. A lot
of people are talking about it which means that people kind of
run to where the money is and we do not have best practices
always being exercised. That really complicates this issue.
Can you tell us the things the McCain Institute is doing
now in terms of both training on sex and labor trafficking and
how we can use your work to better inform Federal policy here?
Ms. McCain. Training is essential, training and awareness,
training and awareness. I sometimes feel like a broken record
on this but it is the truth.
Training that is local, as we talk about trauma, but it has
to have a set of principles, the same items have to be included
in it. The Institute worked with the Attorneys General to put
together the working manual of trafficking victims, awareness
and so forth.
We have begun some work now on labor trafficking. As you
know, we are based in Texas on this one. We are putting
together a prosecutors' manual on how to prosecute traffickers,
not just how to prosecute, of course, but how to stop it, more
importantly.
These kinds of basic tools are almost non-existent around
the Country. Anything the Federal Government can do to not only
help organizations or agencies put together a manual that
works, that is systemized, that is something that includes the
same things for the most part and then tweak it for the region
or State you are in or what you are dealing with.
The most important part of this, in my opinion, is also
dealing with the customer. We can talk all day long about what
to do and how to help everybody and all these things, but until
we talk openly about men buying children for sex, we are not
going to get anywhere. It is an ugly topic.
In my opinion, that has to be talked about certainly in
Justice, Health and Human Services, and other agencies,
collectively working together on just this.
I hope that answers your question.
Senator Heitkamp. Yes, it does, but I think the work you
are doing is so important because we do need best practices,
otherwise we may be spending a lot of money or doing a lot of
things that will not have any benefit.
Ms. McCain. Any benefit
Senator Heitkamp. The same is true in victim services.
Ms. McCain. That is right.
Senator Heitkamp. To we get our arms around this problem, I
will just tell a story. In Dickinson, North Dakota, during the
height of the boom, I think Cindy you heard this when you were
there, they did a sting where they advertised a 14-year-old. It
was pretty clear. Just within a couple of hours, they had to
shut it down because the jail was already full and they had two
people calling for 12-year-olds.
What does that say? It says that somehow we have normalized
this behavior to the point that we are not getting through. We
cannot normalize this behavior. If we are going to prevent this
behavior, we have to look at the conditions beginning with
childhood trauma and the conditions that lead to that trauma
that will build a more resilient population in Indian Country
to resist all of this.
I want to thank you, Ms. Matthews. I know your great work.
All of you are working so hard. We have to make this our top
priority.
Ms. McCain. May I also say the anonymity of the Internet is
a big player in this, the inability for people to know who is
really there and the freedom with which they can buy a child
and the ease of it. Something has to be done to stop that.
The Chairman. Senator Flake.
STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF FLAKE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator Flake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your
indulgence and letting me ask questions in this Committee.
Thank you all for the work you are doing. It is really
heartening to see so much focus now on this. Mrs. McCain, thank
you for coming to the office yesterday and telling me about
what has happened lately, particularly with the Navajo Nation.
You mentioned they have now made trafficking a criminal
offense. What difference will that make? How will that help the
situation?
Ms. McCain. To me the obvious difference is that it is
community taking action against a community and for their
community. They have to understand that they have to act, you
cannot rely on others. They have to deal with this also
themselves.
In many cases, we talk about cultural issues and so forth,
but the idea that tribes will criminalize this is huge. I
believe it is going to make a huge difference in helping to at
least curtail it or be able to track it for the data we are
talking about here.
Senator Flake. You mentioned that the dearth of data and we
obviously need more. With regard to the other Native tribes in
Arizona, do you expect some of them to follow the Navajo
Nation's lead now?
Ms. McCain. I do. The pressure is on. They have seen what
this can do. It is not for lack of willingness. Do not
misunderstand me, that is not the case here. They see that
another tribe has done it and I have already heard that there
is already legislative process in place in many of the other
tribes right now working on the same issue.
Senator Flake. You mentioned in your testimony and in my
office yesterday that backpage.com is targeting specifically
Native American girls. How do they do that?
Ms. McCain. It is all in how the ads are written. A large
part of what we have been able to do is prove complicity in
writing the ads, that they knowingly know how to write these
ads to evade the police but still get the message across that
they are Native American, African American or under age, or
whatever it may be.
People know exactly what they are getting. Those who look
for this know what they are getting on Backpage.
Senator Flake. Ms. Matthews, I missed your testimony but
there are parallels certainly with where you are involved and
what we are seeing in Arizona.
Ms. Matthews. Yes, absolutely, and also to speak to the
importance of having a tribal code to address sex trafficking.
One, it says this is a priority by our tribe, that our tribe is
putting this as a priority and we get to put it in our own
language, with our own culture, with our own practices. It is
by and for us.
It is not that tribes haven't wanted it but sex trafficking
has really gained more attention and tribes are starting to
become more aware that it is impacting the women in our
communities. It doesn't just happen in the urban areas; it is
happening in our tribal communities.
Senator Flake. Thank you all again for what you do,
especially, Mrs. McCain, for what you have done in Arizona. I
have seen it. I mentioned to you that my wife attended one of
the functions you had. The ability you have to bring awareness
to this and make people focus on it has been really helpful and
heartening. Thank you for what you are doing.
Ms. McCain. Thank you.
Senator Flake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Cortez Masto.
STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you and thank you for this
important discussion. Welcome to all the panelists.
I would like to start with Mr. Toulou. We have heard the
GAO reports that there were 14 Federal investigations and 2
Federal prosecutions of human trafficking in Indian Country
between 2013 and 2016.
Can you talk to why the number of Federal investigations
and prosecutions is so low in Indian Country?
Mr. Toulou. I think there are a couple of things going on
there. One, we are talking about actual prostitution and
trafficking in Indian Country. A lot of the trafficking I think
we have seen nationally that involved Native American women is
not in Indian Country but takes place in urban areas outside of
Indian Country.
It is every bit as horrible, maybe more so in many ways
because they do not have the communities to surround them, but
it isn't something necessarily the Federal Government would be
prosecuting. It is likely something that is going to be
prosecuted by the State or local authorities.
We have human trafficking task forces in the U.S.
Attorney's offices that work with all local, State and tribal
entities and there is a parceling up of what gets prosecuted
appropriately. I do not know that it necessarily says the cases
are not being done. It is the cases that would occur in Indian
Country and in that geographic location, it may not be as high.
Senator Cortez Masto. I appreciate that. Thank you.
It would be helpful, I think, to explain the distinction
between a State District Attorney, a State Attorney General and
the U.S. Attorney's Office and how you coordinate that
jurisdiction, who is going to prosecute these cases?
Mr. Toulou. It is generally a question of location. Indian
Country is a defined area geographically, its reservation
allotments, and independent Indian communities.
Senator Cortez Masto. Let me stop you there because I
appreciate this. Let me just put this in perspective.
I was an Attorney General of Nevada for eight years. There
are sex trafficking cases, human trafficking cases that the
U.S. Attorneys took on outside of Indian Country. That is what
I am talking about, not just in Indian Country, because you are
trying to identify just Indian Country and a lot of these cases
are happening outside, but the U.S. Attorney's Office can still
prosecute these cases. They do not have to be in Indian Country
to prosecute these cases, correct?
Mr. Toulou. Absolutely.
Senator Cortez Masto. That is my question. How do you
distinguish between those agencies, the DA, the State Attorney
General and the U.S. Attorney, how you are going to prosecute
these cases and how many you are going to take on for sex
trafficking cases?
Mr. Toulou. Again, you were talking about Indian Country
cases, so there are human trafficking cases in the U.S.
Attorney's office outside of Indian Country. Some involve
Indian victims, some of them do not.
The way it is handled in most districts is we have a Human
Trafficking Task Force that involves all those entities. The
cases come in as they do in other task forces and the
appropriate prosecuting entity would handle the case.
I am sure some of the cases are handled by the U.S.
Attorney's offices but it is a resource and appropriate
sanctioning sort of determination that prosecutors make among
themselves. It is set up within the U.S. Attorney's office
working with those other entities.
Senator Cortez Masto. For those jurisdictions, whether it
is local, whether a State law does not have a sex trafficking
crime, it really leaves only the U.S. Attorney's office to
pursue a sex trafficking case because the DA and/or the State
Attorney General, even if they have jurisdiction, they are only
prosecuting for prostitution.
When do you, in those cases, because I know not every State
has a sex trafficking crime, how do you address the sex
trafficking cases in those States?
Mr. Toulou. I think it requires some creativity but many of
those cases would then be Federal if they are human trafficking
cases. As you know, as a prosecutor, the more crimes an
individual commits, you can charge and it is not just one. They
may be charged with some of those other offenses as opposed to
human trafficking as the named offense.
The idea is to get the individual off the street and make
the victim safe. You pick what is most appropriate.
Senator Cortez Masto. It is fair enough to say there are
unfortunately so many of these types of cases going around that
it is more than enough work for the U.S. Attorney alone to do?
Mr. Toulou. Yes, I think that is true.
Senator Cortez Masto. It would be much better to allow the
DA and the Attorneys General, if they do not have that State
crime, to be able to prosecute under a Federal crime?
Mr. Toulou. You are saying the State or the Federal?
Senator Cortez Masto. Yes, because we do it all the time.
In the Attorney General's office, some of my attorneys were
commissioned, had the authority to prosecute alongside the
AUSAs under Federal crimes? Do you see any concern with that?
Mr. Toulou. We are very supportive of the SAUSA Program.
Senator Cortez Masto. Isn't it fair to say that because of
this the proliferation of human trafficking across the Country,
we should be opening the door to some extent to the CDA that
Mrs. McCain talked about, allowing our local DAs and State
attorneys to come in and really look at those cases where there
is Backpage and these kids and young adults being sold online
and not leave it just to the U.S. Attorneys to prosecute those
types of cases but have the DAs and Attorneys General be able
to prosecute those as well?
Mr. Toulou. I think we are very interested in the
department. This is a priority and making sure these cases get
handled appropriately both the Deputy Attorneys General and
Associates Offices are engaged task forces internally to work
on this. I think any suggestion to provide more resources would
be welcome.
Senator Cortez Masto. It is a resource issue. I agree. I
think the U.S. Attorney's Office is a challenge. You have a lot
on your plate. Unfortunately, there is too much human
trafficking happening, not just in the United States but around
the world. Law enforcement needs all of the support at the
State, local and Federal level they can get to support one
another to be able to prosecute these crimes, wouldn't you
agree?
Mr. Toulou. I think anything we can do to handle this.
Senator Cortez Masto. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Vice Chairman Udall.
Senator Udall. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Franken raised the issue of jurisdiction earlier.
Mrs. McCain, based on your work at the McCain Institute, how
essential is a credible threat of prosecution for combating the
spread of human trafficking?
Ms. McCain. I can speak for my home State of Arizona. It is
high. Quite honestly, if you don't want to be arrested in
Arizona for human trafficking, you had better keep on flying.
Most of the States in the United States have implemented laws.
There are some that have not yet.
In my opinion, it is most important that we, States that do
have it, encourage the other States and help them devise laws
and things to help them also have a stronger purpose in all of
this. Most important, we have to work together. Child
trafficking in Arizona is probably going to wind up in
Minnesota or in Wyoming or some other place. We have to have a
way to communicate with our police and first responders
collectively. We have to be able to talk and share information,
in my opinion.
Senator Udall. Thank you.
This is for the whole panel. Do jurisdictional gray areas
in Indian Country impact the success of Native human
trafficking prevention initiatives or the process of
investigations and prosecutions of human traffickers? Mr.
Thompson?
Mr. Thompson. From an investigative perspective, the
jurisdictional boundaries are a huge hindrance to us in
investigations. There is no boundary when it comes to human sex
trafficking specifically.
We have talked about Backpage and these other sites that
target not only Indian women but also Indian locations,
casinos, those types of locations, but they very easily change
that location to a hotel that is just off of the reservation
which all of a sudden takes away my or the tribe's jurisdiction
from the equation in the investigation.
Those issues for us are an extreme hindrance when it comes
to investigating what you would call a ring of human
traffickers because this ring is not only operating in this one
location or with this one group of people. They are operating
across a network that does not have the boundaries of a
reservation, town, city or county. Absolutely, for us, it does.
Senator Udall. Mr. Toulou?
Mr., Toulou. We have attempted to deal with those issues by
having a task force. That is what we do in a lot of other
areas. Make sure you have all the relevant parties at the table
so you can discuss the case and the jurisdiction and move ahead
appropriately. That has worked fairly well for us and that is
where we are now.
Senator Udall. Dr. Goodwin?
Ms. Goodwin. In our conversations and in the surveys we
did, this came up as well. It is an issue, who has jurisdiction
over what part.
Also, we asked in our survey whether tribal law enforcement
or tribes had human trafficking codes. We did not get a reply
on that but we know the Tribal Law and Policy Institute will
help tribes establish and work on getting a human trafficking
code.
Senator Udall. Does the Justice Department also do that,
Mr. Toulou? Cindy McCain talked about how the Navajo Nation has
put in new laws. There are other tribes out there that would
like to do this, I am sure. We have heard that. Are you
assisting them in that or are you relying on the work Dr.
Goodwin is talked about?
Mr. Toulou. We actually fund the Tribal Law and Policy
Institute. We have tribal liaisons in all the U.S. Attorney's
offices. I am sure they would be happy to help the tribes as
would my office if they want to work on a code.
Mr. Thompson. If I may, Vice Chairman, the Tribal Justice
Work Program under the Office of Justice Services also provides
technical support to tribal courts to include the development
of tribal codes.
Senator Udall. Let me sum up. First of all, I thank the
Chairman again. This has been an excellent panel. Your
testimony has been stellar. You have really helped us, I think,
get a grip on what we have to deal with here. It is a tough,
tough subject. We just want to thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you, Vice Chairman Udall.
I would inform the members we do have a vote at 4:30 p.m.
on the floor.
I would very much like to thank our witnesses today for
being here and for your very important work.
The record will be kept open for two weeks for anyone who
would like to submit additional questions.
Again, our thanks.
We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:25 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Hon. John Barrasso, U.S. Senator From Wyoming
Good afternoon, Mister Chairman. I appreciate you holding this
important hearing today.
During my Chairmanship, I joined with then-Vice Chairman Tester in
a series of letters to ask the Government Accountability Office--GAO--
to begin an examination of human trafficking in Indian Country.
Anecdotally, we knew that human trafficking was a growing problem in
both native and non-native communities, but were unable to determine
the full extent of the problem.
As a result of our letters, the GAO published two reports, the
results of which we will discuss today. From these reports, it is clear
that not only do we not know the full extent of the risks posed by
human trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Natives, agencies are
also poorly equipped to assist victims once they escape. The GAO report
on the number of Native American victims needing services identified
that in the three-year period from 2013 to 2016, the United States
conducted 6,100 investigations and pursued 1,000 prosecutions for human
trafficking operations. Of these, only 14 federal investigations,
resulting in 2 federal prosecutions, were related to cases involving an
American Indian or Alaska Native.
Given the scope of the information GAO reported, the fact that
there were relatively few investigations and prosecutions in Indian
Country does not tell me that human trafficking is not a problem.
Rather, it seems obvious to me that these crimes are under-reported,
under-investigated, and under-prosecuted.
It is widely known that American Indian and Alaska Native women
suffer sexual violence at the highest rate per capita in this country.
It seems likely that human trafficking, yet another form of sexual
violence, also disproportionately affects women and children in Indian
Country.
In this Committee, we work to address the significant issues in
Indian Country. There is no doubt in my mind that human trafficking is
one of those issues. No woman, no man, no child should live in fear of
being sold. No one should be afraid of retaliation should they report a
crime.
We must know more about victims of trafficking, the identity and
tools used by traffickers, and what services are needed if someone has
been trafficked. That is why I appreciate the opportunity to join you
as a cosponsor of your SURVIVE Act, and I look forward to continuing to
work with Senator Tester, you, and Vice Chairman Udall.
I appreciate the testimony of the witnesses today, and I appreciate
the work they each do to reach out to victims and end human
trafficking.
Thank you, Mister Chairman.
______
Prepared Statement of Alison Kear, Executive Director, Covenant House
Alaska
Chairman Hoeven and Ranking Member Udall:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide comments
regarding the recent GAO Report on Human Trafficking of American
Indians and Alaska Natives.
My name is Alison Kear. I am the Executive Director of covenant
House Alaska, where I've worked for 21 years. Covenant House Alaska is
the largest shelter in Alaska for at-risk youth experiencing
homelessness. In Anchorage, we are the only provider of street outreach
and emergency shelter services for youth ages 13-20, and transitional
housing programs for youth ages 18-20. Since 1988, we have served over
20,000 homeless youth. last year, we served a population of about 2,331
at-risk youth inside our shelter that came from all over Alaska,
including rural Alaska Native communities. In fact, 57 percent of our
youth are Alaska Native and American Indian- more than half of our
residents. \1\ And that number has been steadily increasing over the
past 10 years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Covenant House Alaska statistics (2016)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2016, Covenant House Alaska participated in a multi-city study
on human trafficking, conducted by Loyola University's Modern Slavery
Research Project. We were one of 10 Covenant House sites that
participated across North America, including Canada. In a survey of 65
in-person interviews with residential and drop-in youth at Covenant
House Alaska, 28 percent of the respondents were Identified as victims
of human trafficking. \2\ That's one in four homeless youth in
Anchorage, Alaska. Those numbers did not surprise us. Homelessness and
sex trafficking go hand in hand.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Loyola University New Orleans, Modern Slavery Research Project
(2016). Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth, Anchorage
Alaska.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding our Alaska Native population, of the youth who were sex
trafficked, preliminary reports indicate that 42 percent were Alaska
Native, reinforcing other data showing that Alaska Native people are a
higher risk population. \3\ This compares to findings in 2010 by the
Anchorage Police Department and the FBI, which estimated that Alaska
Native victims made up 30 percent of the sex trafficking cases they
were investigating. \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Murphy, L. (2016). Multi-city study on human trafficking and
homeless youth: preliminary site report. Loyola University New Orleans
Modern Slavery Research Project.
\4\ Lacey & D. Neer (personal communication, September 18, 2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall1 according to the recent Loyola University study, Alaska's
respondents reported more trafficking than both New Orleans (14
percent) and New York (14.9 percent) as well as in any other city in
the study. \5\ Anchorage was the last site surveyed in the Loyola
study. Researchers had been to major cities like Los Angeles, Detroit
and Atlanta--but the most horrific stories they had heard from
trafficking victims were in my hometown of Anchorage, Alaska.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Murphy, L (2016). Multi-city study on human trafficking and
homeless youth: preliminary site report. Loyola University New Orleans
Modern Slavery Research ProJect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What does sex trafficking among Alaska Native youth look like in my
state? I can tell the committee what we've seen firsthand at Covenant
House. We know that young Alaska Native girls are often targeted,
recruited out of rural areas of our state and from Native hub
communities with promises of jobs in Anchorage. They leave their
villages and families, often to escape traumatic home situations and
high unemployment In rural areas. The majority of rural villages are
hundreds of miles from Anchorage and are only accessible by airplane or
boat, and airfares to Anchorage can cost around $800. Many of these
young girls lack the means to return to their home villages once they
arrive in Anchorage, and are easily victimized and forced into
prostitution.
We also know that Alaska unfortunately suffers the highest rates of
domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide in the country. \6\ The
Alaska rape rate is 2.5 times the national average. \7\ Child sexual
assault in Alaska is almost six times the national average. \8\ And
within the foster care system, Alaska Native children are seven times
more likely to be in foster care than non-Native children. \9\ These
are all risk factors that lead to homelessness and extreme
vulnerability among Native youth--they are easy targets for sex
traffickers, who promise these youth security, love, companionship, a
warm meal and a bed. These kids don't have support networks or a
community. So if Covenant House doesn't find them first, who does?
Traffickers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Alaska Suicide Facts and Statistics. http://dhss.alaska.gov/
SulcidePrevention/Documents/pdf_sspc/AKSuicideStatistics.pdf
\7\ Standing Together Against Rape, Alaska Specific
Statistics.http://www.staralaska.com/statistics.html
\8\ An Overview of Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence in
the Home, the Community, and Juvenile Justice System Response (2014)
https://www.Justice.gov/sites/default/files/defendingchildhood/legacy/
2014/10/10/AlaskaPanel1.pdf
\9\ Alaska Dispatch News, Sept. 28, 2016. High numbers of Alaska
children--especially Native children--in foster care. https://
www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/high-numbers-alaska-children-and-
native-children-fostercare/2014/12/04/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seven years ago, Anchorage police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation warned communities about a rise in rural Alaska Native
girls and women who leave their families and villages for Anchorage,
being lured into the sex trafficking trade with the promise of
security. There seems to be a market for young Alaska Native women, who
can be trafficked as other ethnicities. This is where I first learned
about the severity of the trafficking problem in Alaska. In this
presentation, I discovered that the number one spot that young people
were being recruited for sex trafficking was--of all places--Covenant
House Alaska. When I got over my shock and anger and sadness, I was
committed to change that.
Why is it so difficult to obtain data on trafficking? In working
with these youth at Covenant House, it often takes many months before
they will confide that they are in a dangerous situation. Often, they
do not identify themselves as victims or even recognize they are in a
trafficking situation, so many have been sexually abused since
childhood and have a warped sense of what is ``normal.'' Or they form
attachments to their trafficker because of the manipulative nature of
this crime. Another barrier is the lack of training and understanding
among local law enforcement. Even after a victim has asked for help,
the process of deciding to get out of the life and to press charges
against their trafficker is lengthy, often taking years.
Right now, we are working to address the lack of training among
health and law professionals, so they can more quickly identify victims
of sex trafficking. We partner with the Alaska Native Justice Center to
do that, as well as Priceless, the anti-trafficking organization, and
two domestic violence organizations--STAR and AWAIC. Together, we serve
all trafficking victims who walk through our shelter doors.
Certainly, one way to help end sex trafficking is to end youth
homelessness--the connection between the two is undeniable. And within
the Anchorage community, we are coming together to do that. Covenant
House Alaska has built strong partnerships with many organizations--
Native and non-Native--to help our homeless youth who are vulnerable to
trafficking. We partner with South central Foundation, Cook Inlet
Tribal Council, First Alaskans Institute and Cook Inlet Housing
Authority--all Alaska Native organizations--who are working inside our
shelter and alongside us to heal the trauma all our at-risk youth have
experienced. It's going to take these kinds of unique partnerships to
get a grip on this growing crime of sex trafficking in our state.
I commend the Committee for highlighting the findings of this GAO
report and the horrible problem of sex trafficking within our Alaska
Native and American Indian communities. Thank you for your time.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D.
Funding for Tribal Law Enforcement and Justice Programs
Question 1. Four federal agencies--the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the U.S.
Attorneys' Office (USAO), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE)--are in charge of the investigation and prosecution of human
trafficking cases in Indian Country. Between 2013 and 2016, these
agencies reported that they conducted only 14 federal investigations of
human trafficking offenses in Indian Country. \1\ The Department of
Justice undertook two related federal prosecutions during that same
period. \2\ It is likely that the capacity of these agencies to
undertake investigations and prosecutions is limited by personnel
resources. Recent analysis by the BIA showed that federal funding meets
only 42 percent of the need for law enforcement in Indian Country, \3\
but President Trump's FY2018 Budget Request would cut funding for
tribal and federal justice programs. This proposal includes $36 million
in cuts to tribal justice programs at the Department of Interior. It
would eliminate funding for 48 BIA law enforcement officers, 126 tribal
police officer positions, and 600 special agents at the FBI. Is there
any evidence that under-staffing or personnel limitations impacted the
abilities of federal agencies to adequately track, investigate, and
prosecute human trafficking in Indian Country?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-17-624, Human
Trafficking: Information on Cases in Indian Country or that Involved
Native Americans (2017).
\2\ Id.
\3\ See Fiscal Year 2017 Indian Country Budget Request, National
Congress of American Indians, 32, at http://www.ncai.org/resources/
ncai-publications/05FY2017publicsafety.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer. I based my September 27, 2017 testimony on two GAO reports
addressing human trafficking of Native American victims or in Indian
Country that we published in March \4\ and July of 2017. \5\ In
conducting the work for each, our scope did not include the collection
of information regarding staffing or personnel issues at the federal
agencies you note above. Thus, I am not positioned to address whether
or not evidence exists to answer your question. However, if you would
like to request that GAO examine human capital management issues in
these agencies as they relate to the investigations and prosecution of
human trafficking cases involving Native American victims or in Indian
Country, we would be pleased to work with your office to explore these
matters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ GAO, Human Trafficking: Action Needed to Identify the Number of
Native American Victims Receiving Federallyfunded Services, GAO-17-325
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 30, 2017).
\5\ GAO, Human Trafficking: Information on Cases in Indian Country
or that Involved Native Americans, GAO-17-624 (Washington, D.C.: July
24, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interagency Coordination
Question 2. In his written testimony, Mr. Thompson stated that 414
Indian Policy Academy (IPA) attendees have received special training
regarding human trafficking. \6\ He also stated that IPA has partnered
with the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and the
National Indian Gaming Commission to spread awareness about this
growing criminal issue in Native Communities. This is a step in the
right direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving
efforts to combat issues like human trafficking. Senator Udall sent a
letter to the Department of the Interior (DOD, the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS), and the National Indian Gaming Commission
asking them to coordinate with victim service providers and other
federal agencies to ensure that all federal employees on tribal lands
are equipped to spot and respond to domestic violence and human
trafficking in Indian Country. What specific training for law
enforcement is needed so that human trafficking is not mistaken for
prostitution?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Statement of Jason Thompson, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Oversight Hearing on ``GAO Reports on Human Trafficking of American
Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States,'' 3, (Sept. 27, 2017)
https://www.indian.senate.gov/sites/default/files/upload/
Jason%20Thompson%20Testimony.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer. The reports from March and July of 2017 on which I based my
testimony statement did not recommend any specific type of training to
enhance law enforcement's ability to distinguish between human
trafficking and prostitution. That said, our July report included
survey results that, in part, address your interests. In particular, we
reported that over half of the tribal law enforcement agencies (LEAs)
that responded to our survey (72 of 132) identified one or more types
of assistance that they would like to receive to help identify and
address human trafficking in their jurisdiction. In particular, 50 of
the 72 tribal LEAs said they would like to receive additional training
or technical assistance to assist them in combating human trafficking.
For example, officials from one tribal LEA we interviewed expressed
interest in training that focuses on building trust between tribal and
non-tribal representatives and helps make tribal law enforcement and
community members aware of existing federal resources. These officials
also noted that they wanted training materials that included examples
of cases that involved Native Americans so as to be more relatable to
tribal community members and to help build awareness in the tribal
community.
We also asked victim service providers whether the federal
government could support their efforts to serve Native American human
trafficking victims, and one of the most frequently cited areas that
service providers mentioned (12 of 42 respondents) was additional
information to increase public awareness and training for them as well
as LEAs. For example, respondents cited the need for training for both
service providers and tribal LEAs focused on identifying victims,
developing tribal trafficking statutes, and working with Native
American populations effectively.
Tribal Resources: Culturally-Specific Victim Services
Question 3. GAO research shows that there is a need for culturally
specific programs for American Indian and Alaska Native women to
specifically address sex trafficking. \7\ Did your survey results for
the second GAO report reveal any other culturally-specific services
that providers are currently offering Native survivors of human
trafficking? Respondents to our surveys indicated that culturally
specific services available to Native American victims of human
trafficking include talking circles, sweat lodges, drum circles,
smudging, spiritual counseling, traditional medicine, and mentoring by
tribal elders and spiritual leaders. Survey respondents also reported
that they offer creative art.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-17-624, Human
Trafficking: Information on Cases in Indian Country or that Involved
Native Americans (2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Combating Online Human Trafficking
Question 4. The Internet plays a role in human trafficking.
Traffickers sometimes communicate with young people online, posing as
potential boyfriends or girlfriends, tricking them and eventually
forcing them into trafficking. Traffickers also use online platforms to
sell their product -using classified advertisement listing services
such as Backpage.com, they post information about the men, women, and
children that they are trafficking. The Internet's role in human
trafficking is complex, and successfully combating human trafficking
requires understanding its role. Fighting digital platforms that assist
in the trafficking of persons potentially requires additional
resources, and might raise complicated jurisdictional questions. Based
on your research, do you believe that Indian Country is prepared to
tackle the unique challenges presented by the Internet's role in human
trafficking?
Question 4a. If not, what resources do you need in order to
adequately confront those challenges?
Answer. The reports from March and July of 2017 on which my
testimony is based did not address the role of the Internet in human
trafficking in Indian country or involving Native Americans. However,
in a 2016 report, we examined--at a broad level--federal efforts to
assess the prevalence of human trafficking, challenges agencies face in
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases, and federal
grants and steps taken to prevent duplication. In that report, we noted
that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is a network of 61
task forces comprised of over 3,000 federal, state, local, and tribal
law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These task force agencies
engage in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions of
Internet crimes against children. \8\ If you would like to request that
GAO examine the Internet's specific role in human trafficking in Indian
Country or involving Native Americans and any challenges that Indian
Country may face with respect to obtaining information off the Internet
to investigate human trafficking crimes, we would be pleased to work
with your office to explore these matters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ GAO, Human Trafficking: Agencies Have Taken Steps to Assess
Prevalence, Address Victim Issues, and Avoid Grant Duplication GAO-16-
555 (Washington, D,C: Jun 28, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez-Masto
to Gretta L. Goodwin, Ph.D.
Question 1. The March 30, 2017 GAO report indicates that HHS is
developing a data collection tool, which grantees can use to report
information on human trafficking, including the Native American status
of victims. Have you been in touch with HHS about this tool? If so, how
is HHS addressing the concerns raised by the DOJ regarding
overburdening grantees and victim confidentiality?
Answer. In our last interview/email exchange with HHS officials on
August 2017, the officials indicated that they prefer Congressional
inquiries be directed to the agency rather than being communicated
through GAO. We can provide the appropriate contact information to
facilitate a conversation with HHS.
Question 2. How does your recommendation address DOJ's concerns
regarding the burden on grantees to track and report on the Native
American status of the victim served? How does your recommendation
ensure the privacy of the victims are protected?
Answer. While we believe that collecting race or Native American
status information on victims of all types of crimes can be very
informative, it is not our position that victims should be required to
disclose such information in order to receive services, particularly
where disclosure would create a risk that a victim could be publicly
identified. In light of concerns that DOJ raised during our audit work,
including potential for overburdening grantees and undermining victim
confidentiality, we recommended that grantees be required to report, to
DOJ, Native American status of human trafficking victims, ``as
appropriate.'' Therefore, our recommendation gives DOJ latitude to
address its concerns, as deemed appropriate under the circumstances. We
formulated the recommendation, understanding that there may be
instances where reporting the Native American status of human
trafficking victims could, on its own, or in conjunction with other
information, identify individual victims. As we stated in our report,
the components could exempt grantees from reporting Native American
status on a case-by-case basis if such instances arise. However, we do
think there are situations where it may be appropriate to ask victims
for their race or Native American status, and that such an inquiry
would pose no greater burden on grantees than any other demographic
data collection requirement already in place. In fact, our March 2017
report states that survey results from a related review indicate that
some of the DOJ- and HHS-funded victim service providers already
collect this information. In particular, of the 162 victim service
providers that responded to our survey, 67 reported that they provided
services to at least one human trafficking victim, and 58 were able to
tell us whether any of the human trafficking victims they served were
Native American; 9 were not able to tell us.
Question 3. GAO recommends that the Director of OVW require
grantees to report the number of human trafficking victims served using
grant funding, and as appropriate, the Native American status of the
victims. How would a grantee know whether it was appropriate to report?
How can DOJ work not to penalize grantees who do not report because for
instance it would reveal the identity of the victim?
Answer. We recommended that grantees be required to report, to DOJ,
Native American status of human trafficking victims ``as appropriate.''
Implicit in this is that DOJ work with its grantees to jointly
determine what is appropriate given the particular facts and
circumstances a grantee might face. If there is reason for DOJ to
believe that reporting would compromise confidentiality, then it would
be incumbent on DOJ to waive the requirement as appropriate for the
particular grantee/s and therefore forgo any penalization.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Jason Thompson
Jurisdictional Issues
Question 1. Human trafficking on tribal lands raises many questions
related to law enforcement and court jurisdiction. The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) spoke with tribal law enforcement
departments that indicated human trafficking on tribal lands involves
non-tribal members (as either traffickers or traffickees), creating
potential jurisdictional challenges. Currently, tribal jurisdiction
over non-Indians is limited to domestic violence crimes committed
against a Native spouse or Native significant other on tribal land.
This means that tribes cannot bring charges against a non-Native
defendant who participates in the human trafficking of Native women on
tribal land. Could you expand more on how BIA law enforcement works
across jurisdictional boundaries to address human trafficking?
Answer. Participating in local task forces has proven to be one
successful avenue to address jurisdictional boundaries when
investigating Human Trafficking enterprises operating in or near Indian
Country. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services
(OJS) Division of Drug Enforcement (DDE) Agents coordinate and partner
with other federal and/or state task forces in the area to multiply
resources to address the increased criminal activity in targeted areas
in or affecting Indian Country.
To ensure BIA DDE Agents can mitigate any jurisdictional boundary
issues, Agents have worked collaboratively with other federal, tribal,
state and local law enforcement officials to prepare targeted human
trafficking operations at specific locations in and around Indian
Country enterprises. This ensures potential predators and human
trafficking organizations are not able to exploit potential
jurisdictional gaps and escape detection.
BIA DDE has teamed up with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and State Human Trafficking
Divisions on recent Human Trafficking Operations. BIA DDE works to
secure additional intelligence by continuing to forge local
partnerships with other tribal, state and federal law enforcement in
order to provide additional resources to address Human Trafficking
enterprises.
BIA-OJS has also worked closely with the U.S. Department of State
to engage Tribes in identifying the types of Human Trafficking
affecting tribal communities, best practices, and the identification of
gaps in services. The BIA OJS continues its collaborative effort with
the U.S. Department of State to engage tribal communities on Human
Trafficking issues.
Question 1a. Does this gap in jurisdiction cause enforcement
challenges for tribal police and courts?
Answer. Yes, jurisdictional gaps always provide unique challenges
for law enforcement and court programs. Since tribal police and courts
do not have jurisdiction over all persons committing crimes within
Indian Country, there is the potential for perpetrators to slip through
jurisdictional gaps.
Funding for Tribal Law Enforcement and Justice Programs
Question 2. Four federal agencies--the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the U.S.
Attorneys' Office (USAO), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE)--are in charge of the investigation and prosecution of human
trafficking cases in Indian country. Between 2013 and 2016, these
agencies reported that they conducted only 14 federal investigations of
human trafficking offenses in Indian Country. The Department of Justice
undertook two related federal prosecutions during that same period. It
is likely that the capacity of these agencies to undertake
investigations and prosecutions is limited by personnel resources.
Recent analysis by the BIA showed that federal funding meets only 42
percent of the need for law enforcement in Indian Country, but
President Trump's FY 2018 Budget Request would cut funding for tribal
and federal justice programs. This proposal includes $36 million in
cuts to tribal justice programs at the Department of Interior. It would
eliminate funding for 48 BIA law enforcement officers, 126 tribal
police officer positions, and 600 special agents at the FBI. How would
the budget cuts and reduction in law enforcement personnel impact the
ability to combat human trafficking and other violent crimes in Indian
Country?
Answer. Human Trafficking investigations are often complex and
require an extraordinary amount of coordination among Federal agencies
and tribal, state and local law enforcement. These investigations and
operations are part of the overall core mission for BIA and tribal law
enforcement agencies, and thus, as the BIA refocuses its budgetary
resources on its core missions, will remain a priority.
Interagency Coordination
Question 3. In his written testimony, Mr. Thompson stated that 414
Indian Policy Academy (IPA) attendees have received special training
regarding human trafficking. 5 He also stated that IPA has partnered
with the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and the
National Indian Gaming Commission to spread awareness about this
growing criminal issue in Native Communities. This is a step in the
right direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving
efforts to combat issues like human trafficking. Senator Udall sent a
letter to the Department of the Interior (DOl), the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), and the National Indian Gaming
Commission asking them to coordinate with victim service providers and
other federal agencies to ensure that all federal employees on tribal
lands are equipped to spot and respond to domestic violence and human
trafficking in Indian Country. What specific training for law
enforcement is needed so that human trafficking is not mistaken for
prostitution?
Answer. The current human trafficking curriculum outlines case
examples and differentiates between human trafficking and correlating
crimes associated with human trafficking, such as prostitution. The
training also outlines best practices for collaboration with criminal
investigators and prosecutors to identify the associated offenses.
Question 3a. Could you provide more detail about the training on
human trafficking provided at the Indian Police Academy?
Answer. The human trafficking course was developed collaboratively
by the Department of Homeland Security--Blue Campaign and the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center, the Department of Justice, and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. Those agencies are in the process of drafting
an updated course with the BIA Indian Police Academy. The current human
trafficking course consists of defining human trafficking; applicable
criminal laws; current trends and indicators; and investigative
response.
Combating Online Human Trafficking
Question 4. The Internet plays a role in human trafficking.
Traffickers sometimes communicate with young people online, posing as
potential boyfriends or girlfriends, tricking them and eventually
forcing them into trafficking. Traffickers also use online platforms to
sell their product--using classified advertisement listing services
such as Backpage.com, they post information about the men, women, and
children that they are trafficking. The Internet's role in human
trafficking is complex, and successfully combating human trafficking
requires understanding its role. Fighting digital platforms that assist
in the trafficking of persons potentially requires additional
resources, and might raise complicated jurisdictional questions. What
new challenges does the Internet brings to successfully combating human
trafficking?
Answer. Traffickers are now using the Internet to promote escort
service ads that mask sex trafficking operations. The Internet allows
the sex traffickers to anonymously post fictitious photos and
information about the victims, and thus avoid law enforcement
identifying them prior to the physical meetings where the victim will
be exchanged for money or other goods. The inability of Law Enforcement
to positively identify both criminals and victims prior to the in-
person meeting allows traffickers to detect law enforcement presence at
meeting locations, thereby avoiding contact by officers. Internet sites
utilized by traffickers have also begun implementing more stringent
log-in controls, which pose additional hurdles to officers gaining
access to such sites without being detected.
Question 4a. Is Indian Country prepared to tackle all of these
challenges?
Answer. Indian Country still faces some challenges in this area.
The lack of personnel that are trained and proficient in social media
and Internet investigations can leave a void and sometimes delay these
investigations. Since many of these sites have explicit or restricted
content, BIA and Tribal law enforcement often experience hurdles
accessing these web sites on government computer equipment. The
constantly evolving technology utilized by these criminals, and
concomitant lack of funding on the part of law enforcement to upgrade
its own technology, also presents a challenge for BIA and tribal law
enforcement in conducting these investigations.
Indian Country has also experienced issues with getting undercover
IDs and accounts to aid agents in avoiding detection. BIA and Tribal
law enforcement programs do not have separate administrative subpoena
authority to obtain records like other federal agencies, such as FBI,
HSI, DEA and IRS. Indian Country law enforcement agencies partner with
other federal agencies to maximize resources and share intelligence.
Question 4b. If not, what resources do you need in order to
adequately confront those challenges?
Answer. We continue to identify additional useful resources,
including, for example, advanced training on utilizing social media and
the Internet as needed tools for identifying and investigating human
trafficking enterprises.
Federal Grant Accessibility
Question 5. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and service providers
surveyed by the GAO noted that federal government assistance is most
needed in the form of: (1) additional funding and (2) additional
training and technical assistance. The GAO also reported that there are
a total of 50 federal grant programs that could address human
trafficking, but only two of those exclusively address Native human
trafficking. While the other 48 programs may technically be available
to tribes, we do not know if these programs are reaching Native
communities or if Native applicants are competitive in obtaining these
grants. How do we make these 48 grants more accessible to tribes?
Answer. These grants are administered by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) and other providers. BIA does not provide grants to tribes that
specifically address Human Trafficking. b. What additional resources
would improve BIA and tribal law enforcement's ability to combat human
trafficking?
As with other federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies, human trafficking is among our highest priorities. The most
important resources for combatting human trafficking are the on-site
investigators. Therefore greater coordination among all of these
agencies is of the utmost importance, and the best method of shifting
more resources to the front line of combatting these horrible crimes.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez-Masto
to Jason Thompson
Question 1. What kind of training and technical assistance is the
DOJ currently providing to tribes that address human trafficking? How
are you working with DHS and DOJ on training to identify human
trafficking?
Answer. Your question is more appropriate for the Departments of
Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) for a response. The Bureau of
Indian Affairs--Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) understands DOJ's
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) funds human trafficking training,
for law enforcement and prosecutors that is specific to tribal lands
and a Human Trafficking Awareness course for casino employees. BJA's
Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) provider is
also able to provide customized training and technical assistance to
tribal communities and their law enforcement agencies, when requested.
As an additional note, the BIA OJS partners with other federal and
state agencies to collaborate and share resources in an effort to
target human trafficking occurring in Indian Country. This
collaboration has allowed law enforcement to run multiple human
trafficking operations simultaneously in a given area, and allow
agencies to share resources. This has been very beneficial, since a
human trafficking investigation is very resource intensive and requires
a lot of logistical preparation.
Our BIA-OJS Division of Drug Enforcement has teamed up with
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) and State Human Trafficking Divisions on recent
Human Trafficking Operations. The BIA-OJS Division of Drug Enforcement
works to secure additional intelligence by continuing to forge local
partnerships with other tribal, state and federal law enforcement in
order to provide additional resources to address Human Trafficking
enterprises that may be operating in or around Indian Country.
Question 2. Is there personnel or a position at within BIA's Office
of Justice Services that specifically works fulltime on human
trafficking issues and coordinating resources with tribes and tribal
law enforcement? If so, can you please detail the name of the personnel
and the title of the position?
Answer. BIA does not have any full-time personnel dedicated
specifically to Human Trafficking investigations. Due to the close
association of such trafficking to drug and prostitution cases, and the
similar need for cross-jurisdictional efforts, the Division of Drug
Enforcement is most closely aligned focused on these types of crimes.
The Division of Drug Enforcement within BIA-OJS has also been tasked
with leading investigations of human trafficking violations affecting
Indian country.
Question 3. In the July GAO report, tribal law enforcement agencies
cited a lack of funding and a lack of inter-agency cooperation as
barriers to investigating and prosecuting human trafficking in Indian
country. What is BIA doing to ensure better inter-agency cooperation
and what resources are needed from Congress to better equip tribal LEAs
in identifying and prosecuting these crimes?
Answer. The BIA Drug Agents began providing hands on training and
technical assistance to Tribal Police Officers during the deployments
of Mobile Enforcement Teams to reservations. The onsite training
includes areas such as techniques in undercover operations, identifying
human trafficking enterprises, developing informants and the proper
procedures for putting a successful criminal investigation report
together for prosecution. BIA Indian Police Academy is working with t
he Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to develop and
deploy training for tribal officers, specifically related to human
trafficking.
Question 4. In your written testimony you mentioned the ``Project
Beacon'' grant program and its aim to increase victim-centered services
available to Native Americans in urban areas. In FY 16, only three
organizations received funding with this grant. Why is the number so
low? In your opinion, do we need more funding for these types of
programs that work specifically with Native American victims?
Answer. Project Beacon is a grant program run by the DOJ Office of
Justice Programs. The program increases services to urban American
Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking. This question is
more appropriate for the Department of Justice (DOJ) for information on
the grant program and its administration.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Tracy Toulou
Question 1. The July GAO report identifies victims' drug addiction
as one of the main reasons for victims' reluctance to participate in
investigations or prosecutions. In fact, 17 of 18 respondents said this
was a factor. Mr. Toulou, further to our conversation under Senator
McCain's questioning, given that methamphetamine is tragically the drug
dujour in Montana, would you say it's safe to say that meth plays a
role in human trafficking both in Indian Country and of Native
Americans?
Answer. Although we lack granular data on the precise extent of the
role that methamphetamine plays in human trafficking of American
Indians either in Montana or across the United States, it is clear that
any drug addiction increases the risk that an individual could be
trafficked. Methamphetamines are extremely addictive drugs that create
a vulnerability that traffickers can exploit. Methamphetamines and
other drugs may be involved in many human trafficking cases as a means
to control or coerce the victims. Any efforts to address this
particular challenge of substance abuse should involve both substance
abuse treatment and trauma-informed, culturally-appropriate care for
poly-victimization and trauma.
Question 2. As we've heard today, we know there isn't consensus
among the witness panel regarding the GAO recommendations on data
collection, specifically the recommendation to have certain offices
within the Department of Justice require their grantees to report the
number of human trafficking victims served using grant funding, and, as
appropriate, the Native American status of those victims. Mr. Toulou,
you've already shared your concerns today. Could you paint a picture of
how you might see those concerns about victim privacy playing out
somewhere like Billings, Montana?
Answer. Native American victims of human trafficking may feel
stigmatized. Such victims may desire not to be identified out of a fear
of bringing shame upon their families, being ostracized by their
communities, or being retaliated against by their traffickers. As
reported in both GAO reports on human trafficking in Indian country,
the vast majority of Native American victims cite the fear of
retaliation as a barrier to engaging with the justice system.
It is the Department of Justice's view that implementing the GAO
recommendation may have the unintended consequence of fewer human
trafficking victims seeking services. Moreover, it may compromise the
ability of victim service providers to address victims' immediate
safety needs. If victim service providers align their approach to
assisting trafficking victims with current best practices, they will
not confront victims with extensive paperwork and questions for which
the answers do not help identify what the victim needs. An NIJ-funded
study of service delivery to trafficking victims reported that ``[s]ex
trafficking was never the only problem, and often not the most critical
problem, in young people's lives. Meeting these fundamental needs
frequently took precedence over addressing trafficking, and it required
creative and persistent efforts to engage clients and sustain their
involvement. . . . [p]rogram staff noted that it was first necessary to
establish a trusting relationship with a young person before asking
questions on sensitive topics such as mental health issues, past and
current trauma, and trafficking experiences''. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Gibbs, D., Walters, J.L.H., Lutnick, A., Miller, S., &
Kluckman, M., Evaluation of services for domestic minor victims of
human trafficking, final report (NCJ 248578), at pp. ES-9and 2-2,
Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of
Justice (2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victim service providers are trained to help victims and earn their
trust, not to conduct research or statistical data collection,
particularly in an area that trained researchers have found difficult
to measure. Piecemeal additions to data collection requirements for
grantees may seem mostly benign on their own, but taken together they
can diminish the quality of services that these grants are meant to
support.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Cindy McCain
Federal Grant Accessibility
Question 1. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and service providers
surveyed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that
federal government assistance is most needed in the form of: (1)
additional funding and (2) additional training and technical
assistance. The GAO also reported that there are a total of 50 federal
grant programs that could address human trafficking, but only two of
those exclusively address Native human trafficking. While the other 48
programs may technically be available to tribes, we do not know if
these programs are reaching Native communities or if Native applicants
are competitive in obtaining these grants. Based on your experiences,
what resources do you believe are most needed by service providers that
work with Native victims of human trafficking?
Answer. In my experience, the Amber Alert Training and Technical
Assistance Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice does a
wonderful job at training tribal law enforcement, victim service
providers, and Tribal Council and community members on human
trafficking. The AMBER Alert Initiative for Indian County has offered
training and technical assistance on human trafficking identification
and prevention to over 500 federally recognized tribes. There is a
critical need for ensuring continued funding for this efficient,
effective program.
There is also a need for additional training of tribal law
enforcement and encouragement of Tribal Councils to adopt laws at the
Tribal level designating human trafficking as a crime and training
local law enforcement on human trafficking identification and
prosecution. In addition, human trafficking training of local law
enforcement in municipalities which border or surround Indian land is
needed.
Interagency Coordination
Question 2. In his written testimony, Mr. Thompson stated that 414
Indian Policy Academy (IPA) attendees have received special training
regarding human trafficking. He also stated that IPA has partnered with
the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and the National
Indian Gaming Commission to spread awareness about this growing
criminal issue in Native Communities. This is a step in the right
direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving efforts to
combat issues like human trafficking. Senator Udall sent a letter to
the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), and the National Indian Gaming Commission asking
them to coordinate with victim service providers and other federal
agencies to ensure that all federal employees on tribal lands are
equipped to spot and respond to domestic violence and human trafficking
in Indian Country. What specific training for law enforcement is needed
so that human trafficking is not mislabeled as prostitution?
Answer. I applaud Senator Udall's efforts to improve coordination
among government agencies providing services to trafficked individuals
on tribal lands. This coordinated effort would be most welcome both on
and off Indian land.
In Arizona, the Arizona Police Officers Standards and Training
Board (AZPOST) put into place a comprehensive human trafficking
identification training so all new police officers receive training on
how to spot human trafficking, recognize victims as victims and know
the local resources in place to provide immediate assistance. In
addition, the Phoenix Police Department's Vice Unit, Phoenix first
responders and the larger FBI Task Force on Human Trafficking members
receive excellent training and there has been a monumental shift in
attitude among police when they recover a victim of human trafficking
in Arizona. This same type of comprehensive training needs to be made
available to Tribal law enforcement and repeated as often as needed as
the force turns over to ensure coverage.
Question 2a. What role can medical personnel play in combatting
human trafficking?
Answer. Health Care workers are absolutely a priority for proper
training to identify, treat and provide safe options for trafficked
victims that come into their care. This is particularly important for
emergency room staff, pediatricians, women's health care practitioners,
forensic nurses and first responders. Several Arizona hospitals have
recently began training incoming residents on human trafficking and
this type of training is crucial to Indian medical facilities. Many
survivors tell us that they came across health care workers while they
were being trafficked and the signs were not recognized, the right
questions were not asked and victims not identified despite repeated
intersection with heath care systems.
Question 2b. What advice would you give to Indian Health Services,
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other frontline federal agencies as
they undertake these trainings?
Answer. I would strongly encourage Indian Health Services, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and other frontline agencies to work with the
DOJ funded AMBER Alert Initiative for Indian County. They have
excellent training programs specifically targeted at preventing and
identifying human trafficking in Indian Country.
Tribal Resources: Culturally-Specific Victim Services
Question 3. GAO research shows that there is a need for culturally
specific programs for American Indian and Alaska Native women to
address sex trafficking. Based on your experience working with victim
service providers around the world, how important is it to have
culturally-appropriate services available to victims of human
trafficking?
Do victim service providers in Indian country have enough resources
to offer culturally appropriate victim services to all those in need?
Answer. Culturally sensitive victim services programs are very
important and we have a model program incorporating tribal customs in
healing in Arizona in Native American Connections (NAC). NAC has been
offering culturally sensitive programs and places to heal from drug and
alcohol addiction to Native Americans for many years, with a very high
success rate. They have recently focused efforts on identifying
trafficking victims within their client population as well as offering
services directly to human trafficking victims.
Senator Heitkamp came to Arizona to tour our NAC facility with me
and her staff is actively working on replicating the NAC recovery model
in North Dakota.
Combating Online Human Trafficking
Question 4. The Internet plays a role in human trafficking.
Traffickers sometimes communicate with young people online, posing as
potential boyfriends or girlfriends, tricking them and eventually
forcing them into trafficking. Traffickers also use online platforms to
sell their product--using classified advertisement listing services
such as Backpage.com, they post information about the men, women, and
children that they are trafficking. The Internet's role in human
trafficking is complex, and successfully combating human trafficking
requires understanding its role. Fighting digital platforms that assist
in the trafficking of persons potentially requires additional
resources, and might raise complicated jurisdictional questions. Could
you explain the special challenges posed by the Internet's role in
facilitating human trafficking, and how Internet trafficking is
different from more traditional methods of human trafficking?
Is Indian Country prepared to tackle these challenges?
If not, what resources do you need in order to adequately confront
those challenges?
Answer. The increasingly complex web of Internet solicitations,
including backpage.com ads, the dark web and well known chat rooms
among buyers of sex have increased the options of traffickers
infinitely. While there are valiant efforts using technology to surf
backpage.com ads to identify victims of trafficking, there simply
aren't sufficient law enforcement resources to go after all of the
cases. The risk of a trafficker getting caught is still very low and
the possible profits from selling human beings online is huge--for most
traffickers the benefits far outweigh any risk and this is no different
in Indian Country.
Trafficking is a hidden and under-reported crime. l believe we need
to continue to work to stop websites like backpage.com who make
millions of dollars from ads selling children. It is illegal to sell a
child, yet they continue to advertise children for sex over and over
and over again without fear of retribution. Amending section 230 of the
CDA is a first step at enabling victims of trafficking to go after
their traffickers in court for selling them online.
Because Indian Country is often remote and very spread out, it is
even more difficult to stop Internet trafficking with traditional
policing. The Navajo Tribal Council recently passed a law making human
trafficking a crime on the Navajo nation, work toward ensuring other
tribes pass similar laws is needed. Awareness of the issue and the
specific challenges on Indian lands is a first step, enhanced training
of service providers in or near Indian Country to recognize and treat
victims is also important.
______
*RESPONSES TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WERE NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME
THIS HEARING WENT TO PRINT*
Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Nicole Matthews
Federal Grant Accessibility
Question 1. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and service providers
surveyed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that
federal government assistance is most needed in the form of: (1)
additional funding and (2) additional training and technical
assistance. The GAO also reported that there are a total of 50 federal
grant programs that could address human trafficking, but only two of
those exclusively address Native human trafficking. While the other 48
programs may technically be available to tribes, we do not know if
these programs are reaching Native communities or if Native applicants
are competitive in obtaining these grants. What barriers do you find
most frequently prevent federal funding for victim services from
reaching Indian Country?
What resources do you believe are most needed by service providers
that work with Native victims of human trafficking?
Jurisdictional Issues
Question 2. Currently, tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians is
limited to domestic violence crimes committed against a Native spouse
or Native significant other on tribal land. This means that tribes
cannot bring charges against a non-Native defendant who participates in
the human trafficking of Native women on tribal land. Do you believe
expanded tribal jurisdiction would help address human trafficking on
Indian lands?
Interagency Coordination
Question 3. In his written testimony, Mr. Thompson stated that 414
Indian Policy Academy (IPA) attendees have received special training
regarding human trafficking. He also stated that IPA has partnered with
the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and the National
Indian Gaming Commission to spread awareness about this growing
criminal issue in Native Communities. This is a step in the right
direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving efforts to
combat issues like human trafficking. Senator Udall sent a letter to
the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), and the National Indian Gaming Commission asking
them to coordinate with victim service providers and other federal
agencies to ensure that all federal employees on tribal lands are
equipped to spot and respond to domestic violence and human trafficking
in Indian Country. What specific training for law enforcement is needed
so that human trafficking is not mistaken for prostitution?
What role can medical personnel play in combatting human
trafficking?
What advice would you give to Indian Health Services, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and other frontline federal agencies as they undertake
these trainings?
Tribal Resources: Culturally Specific Victim Services
Question 4. You have stated before that there is a need for more
culturally specific programs, by and for American Indian and Alaska
Native women, to address sex trafficking. This finding was confirmed by
GAO's latest report as well. Could you tell us more about the types of
culturally-specific programs Native victim service provider
organizations offer?
Could you tell us more about what is needed?
Combating Online Human Trafficking
Question 5. The Internet plays a role in human trafficking.
Traffickers sometimes communicate with young people online, posing as
potential boyfriends or girlfriends, tricking them and eventually
forcing them into trafficking. Traffickers also use online platforms to
sell their product--using classified advertisement listing services
such as Backpage.com, they post information about the men, women, and
children that they are trafficking. The Internet's role in human
trafficking is complex, and successfully combating human trafficking
requires understanding its role. Fighting digital platforms that assist
in the trafficking of persons potentially requires additional
resources, and might raise complicated jurisdictional questions. What
new challenges do you think the Internet brings to successfully
combating human trafficking?
Is Indian Country prepared to tackle all of these challenges?
If not, what resources do you need in order to adequately confront
those challenges?
______
Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to Tracy Toulou
Jurisdictional Issues
Question 1. Human trafficking on tribal lands raises many questions
related to law enforcement and court jurisdiction. The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) spoke with tribal law enforcement
departments that indicate human trafficking on tribal lands involves
non-tribal members (as either traffickers or traffickees), creating
potential jurisdictional challenges. Currently, tribal jurisdiction
over non-Indians is limited to domestic violence crimes committed
against a Native spouse or Native significant other on tribal land.
This means that tribes cannot bring charges against a non-Native
defendant who participates in the human trafficking of Native women on
tribal land. Does this gap in jurisdiction cause enforcement challenges
for tribal police and courts?
Funding for Tribal Law Enforcement and Justice Programs
Question 2. Four federal agencies--the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the U.S.
Attorneys' Office (USAO), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE)--are in charge of the investigation and prosecution of human
trafficking cases in Indian Country. Between 2013 and 2016, these
agencies reported that they conducted only 14 federal investigations of
human trafficking offenses in Indian Country. The Department Of Justice
undertook two related federal prosecutions during that same period. It
is likely that the capacity of these agencies to undertake
investigations and prosecutions is limited by personnel resources.
Recent analysis by the BIA showed that federal funding meets only 42
percent of the need for law enforcement in Indian Country, but
President Trump's FY2018 Budget Request would cut funding for tribal
and federal justice programs. This proposal includes $36 million in
cuts to tribal justice programs at the Department of Interior. It would
eliminate funding for 48 BIA law enforcement officers, 126 tribal
police officer positions, and 600 special agents at the FBI. How would
the budget cuts and reduction in law enforcement personnel impact the
ability to combat human trafficking and other violent crimes in Indian
Country?
Federal Grant Accessibility
Question 3. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and service providers
surveyed by the GAO noted that federal government assistance is most
needed in the form of: 1) additional funding and 2) additional training
and technical assistance. The GAO also reported that there are a total
of 50 federal grant programs that could address human trafficking, but
only two of those exclusively address Native human trafficking. While
the other 48 programs may technically be available to tribes, we do not
know if these programs are reaching Native communities or if Native
applicants are competitive in obtaining these grants. How do we make
these 48 grants more accessible to tribes?
Interagency Coordination
Question 4. In his written testimony, Mr. Thompson stated that 414
Indian Policy Academy (IPA) attendees have received special training
regarding human trafficking. He also stated that IPA has partnered with
the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and the National
Indian Gaming Commission to spread awareness about this growing
criminal issue in Native Communities. This is a step in the right
direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving efforts to
combat issues like human trafficking. Senator Udall sent a letter to
the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), and the National Indian Gaming Commission asking
them to coordinate with victim service providers and other federal
agencies to ensure that all federal employees on tribal lands are
equipped to spot and respond to domestic violence and human trafficking
in Indian Country. What specific training for law enforcement is needed
so that human trafficking is not mistaken for prostitution?
Combating Online Human Trafficking
Question 5. The Internet plays a role in human trafficking.
Traffickers sometimes communicate with young people online, posing as
potential boyfriends or girlfriends, tricking them and eventually
forcing them into trafficking. Traffickers also use online platforms to
sell their product--using classified advertisement listing services
such as Backpage.com, they post information about the men, women, and
children that they are trafficking. The Internet's role in human
trafficking is complex, and successfully combating human trafficking
requires understanding its role. Fighting digital platforms that assist
in the trafficking of persons potentially requires additional
resources, and might raise complicated jurisdictional questions.
a.What new challenges does the Internet brings to successfully
combating human trafficking?
b.Is Indian Country prepared to tackle these challenges?
c.If not, what resources do you need in order to adequately
confront those challenges?
______
Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto to Nicole
Matthews
Question 1. Minnesota is the state that has achieved the most
progress in addressing human trafficking among Native Americans. Can
you discuss how this success has been achieved? How do federal, state,
local, and tribal law enforcement agencies interact and cooperate?
Question 2. What lessons can other jurisdictions take away from
Minnesota's success? How can the Federal Government encourage the type
of cooperation we see in Minnesota in more areas across the country?
______
Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto to Tracy
Toulou
Question 1. How does the DOJ engage with DOI and the tribes
training tribal law enforcement to identify human trafficking? How does
DOJ work with local law enforcement in metropolitan areas near Indian
country on the issues specific to Native American victims and
culturally sensitive services?
Question 2. What role does the FBI Victim Assistance program play
in Indian country and how are they working to combat human trafficking?
What interaction does the FBI Victim Assistance personnel have with the
BIA and tribal law enforcement when it comes to human trafficking and
crimes against children?
Question 3. How many of the 6,100 federal human trafficking
investigations and 1,000 federal prosecutions between 2013 and 2016
cited in the GAO report involved Native American victims?
Question 4. Does the DOJ track declinations of human trafficking
cases involving Native American victims? If so, how many cases that
involved Native American trafficking victims were declined in the last
5 years?
Question 4. Given the limited jurisdiction of tribal courts and the
fact that not every tribe has tribal law enforcement or trafficking
codes on the books, how is the DOJ coordinating with state law
enforcement and state attorney generals to specifically tackle the
issue of trafficking in Indian country?
Question 5. I understand some DOJ grantees are already collecting
the Native American status of the victim served. GAO found 58 grantees
were able to tell them whether any of the human trafficking victims
they served were Native Americans. From this, I understand this data is
already being tracked but the DOJ just isn't collecting it. I do think
data is very important when trying to identify where to target our
resources. Will DOJ consider collecting the data already being tracked
voluntarily by the grantees?
Question 6. Would you consider speaking with HHS regarding its
human trafficking data collection project and how it addresses the
problems you have raised?
[all]