How serious of an issue is human trafficking in Texas?

The problem of human trafficking has gotten a lot worse along the border regions of Texas and Mexico in recent years. The National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) has had contact with over 19,419 individuals regarding this criminal offense since 2007. The statistics surrounding these events are crippling.

The NHTH received some 1,217 contacts about human trafficking in the Lone Star State last year. Those emails, calls and texts also resulted in 561 cases of human trafficking being reported to this non-profit organization last year.

Of the nearly 2,000 contacts that the NHTH received last year, the organization classified at least 441 of them as high indicator cases. At least 1,031 were considered to be moderately concerning cases. The remaining 423 came from both survivors and victims looking to be pointed in the right direction for outside resources that could help them.

NHTH data shows that the large majority of the human trafficking incidents reported by Texas involved individuals being brought here to Edinburgh and other parts of Texas to either be exploited for labor or sexual purposes.

Data compiled by NHTH shows that of the nearly 20,000 contacts that they’ve received from Texas since 2007, at least a quarter of them have been reports of actual ongoing human trafficking cases. Nearly 9,000 of those contacts have involved reports of moderate risk victims. Another 9,000 have been reports of high-risk situations.

Human trafficking is described by many as a type of modern-day slavery. It involves people being brought to this country against their will to work, perform sex acts, work and other activities. It’s illegal here in Texas and other parts of this country. Prosecutors are keen on throwing the book at individuals who violate existing laws.

If you’re facing such charges then you owe it to yourself to find a human trafficking attorney who is experienced in handling such cases. This may mean a world of a difference in how your case is handled within the Texas or the federal legal system.