On the recordJanuary 27, 2015
In closing, let me emphasize what I just said earlier. Two people were caught at Miami International Airport. They were caught by officers of TSA who had received training to detect trafficking and observed the interaction between the two men and a young woman. It was the exact description that I gave--holding a little girl's hand, holding a teenager's hand, looking innocent--but our DHS personnel could be the savers of the day. {time} 1445 Just a few years ago, in our own airport, a number of Chinese nationals--young women--were brought in, ultimately, to be held against their will. It was astute personnel who knew that even though girls traveled together that something was wrong. That is why this legislation is so important. The bill before us today seeks to codify in law the training of DHS personnel on how to deter, detect, and disrupt human trafficking and, where appropriate, to interdict a suspected trafficker during the course of their primary roles and responsibilities. Our front liners from the Department of Homeland Security are everywhere. There is not a place you can travel when entering this country--through our airports or through our ports-- that our agents in some capacity, in some roles, are not there. For the CBP, this means officers at our ports of entry will be trained on how to identify potential victims of trafficking--smuggling, human slavery.…
