According to experts, Rhode Island is becoming  a major hub for sex trafficking. From the Providence Journal: When most people think of slavery these days, “they think of the Civil War,” says Shanna Wells, director of the Rhode Island Commission on Women. But in fact, said Wells, slavery is occurring now in neighborhoods around Rhode Island, in the [...]

The FBI has broken up a prostitution ring where 47 children were being exploited. From the AP (via Google News): More than 600 adults have been arrested and 47 children rescued in a three-day roundup targeting people who force children into prostitution. The FBI said the roundup by federal, state and local law enforcement occurred in 29 cities, [...]

Although the issue of pirates are receiving most of the news coverage in Somalia, human smugglers are also prevalent in the area. From the New York Times Blog: Another set of unsavory characters also plies the Gulf’s azure waters. Human smugglers traffic thousands of people each year from war-torn Somalia to Yemen, about 100 miles across the [...]

The government of Mexico has announced that it will begin deporting Cuban citizens attempting to enter the United States through its country. From the LA Times: In a move likely to reduce the number of Cubans reaching U.S. soil, Mexico agreed Monday to deport Cubans smuggled into the country on their way to the United States. The agreement [...]

The Washington Post has a report on the impact of the newly constructed border fence between the United States and Mexico. From the Washington Post: For years, Mexican American families have flocked to this beachside park to see, touch, hear and feed loved ones through the modest openings of the fence. But the days of such reunions are [...]

A new movie on human trafficking is raising awareness on the issue. From the Washington Post: “Call + Response,” a documentary that seeks to uncover contemporary human slavery in its many forms, opens with a sequence showing four men in a taxi heading to a bachelor party. They are almost giddy, anticipating what they will do and [...]

Human Smugglers on the border are scamming families back in Mexico by placing fake ransom calls demanding money for the release of their relatives, even though the callers do not have the person in their captivity.  From the AFP (via Google News): Human smuggling gangs on the US-Mexico border are extorting thousands of dollars from families of [...]

Due to the struggling US economy and stepped up border enforcement, there are less illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border.  From the New York Times: A Border Patrol spokesman, Jason Cilberti, said there were significant decreases in the numbers of arrests along the nation’s southwest border, with apprehensions falling by 78 percent around Yuma, Ariz., and [...]

Spanish authorities arrested 121 people who were operating a child pron ring in Spain. From the AP (via the IHT): Spanish police arrested 121 people in the country’s biggest-ever crackdown on child pornography, seizing discs containing millions of video and photo files shared by a network that distributed them in 75 countries, authorities said Wednesday. Two of the suspects [...]

The pirates in Somalia who have seized a Ukrainian ship filled with arms are stating that they only wanted to attack the ship because it was “big”.  From the IHT: The Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition said in an interview Tuesday that they had no idea that [...]