Human trafficking can and frequently does occur without crossing any borders. “This is a distinct crime from the no less serious crime of human smuggling, in which people are brought across international borders through the deliberate evasion of immigration laws. We are here today to discuss human trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting of a person for the purpose of forced labor or forced commercial sex. “It is important for us to be clear at the outset about the scope of this hearing. “Our inability to see the harms of human trafficking allows it to persist and leaves victims vulnerable, sometimes even as they think that they have found those who will help them escape. An unfortunate reality, however, is that human trafficking touches many more of our communities than we might suspect, from major cities to quiet suburbs. Too often, we think of human trafficking as something that happens somewhere else-in other cities and in other countries, and not in our own communities. “Thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this important hearing on human trafficking.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared, during a Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security hearing on 'Oversight of Federal Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking:'
