The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released its annual Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) report, reflecting an increase in arrests and seizures.
“The courageous public servants of the Department of Homeland Security dedicate every day to supporting the victims of human trafficking, bringing traffickers to justice, and stopping this scourge wherever it persists,” DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The Center for Countering Human Trafficking is essential to this work, coordinating and strengthening the efforts of the many DHS offices and agencies that combat sex trafficking and forced labor.”
The analysis focused on overtures executed during Fiscal Year 2021 to bolster human trafficking identification and screening, enhance victim protection and assistance, strengthen investigations and enforcement, and offer training, outreach, and engagement.
The report revealed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation’s (HSI) 35 percent increase in human trafficking arrests, from 1,746 in FY 2020 to 2,360 in FY 2021; A CCHT rise in Continued Presence adjudications and extensions that provided protection for hundreds of non-citizen victims of human trafficking; and the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP’s record-shattering $486 million in detained or seized shipments linked to forced labor.
“The DHS counter-trafficking mission focuses on the four-part approach of prevention, protection of victims, prosecution of perpetrators, and partnership with allies,” CCHT Director Cardell T. Morant said. “Our recent increase in human trafficking investigations and arrests illustrates the success of this approach and the CCHT. Together, we are making a difference.”