The risk of human trafficking has been increasing in western NC since Helene

by Emily Vespa, North Carolina Health News
November 15, 2024

By Emily Vespa

Human traffickers are trickling into western North Carolina to take advantage of the trail of vulnerability left in its wake by Hurricane Helene, a law enforcement representative warned at a recent meeting of the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission.

Anti-trafficking leaders said they expect more trafficking to occur as communities begin long-term recovery efforts.

The storm’s devastation has deprived people of their basic needs, putting survivors at greater risk of human trafficking, which is defined as the use of force, fraud or coercion to exploit someone for labor or sex. At the same time, the storm and its aftermath have upended human trafficking prevention and enforcement efforts.

While the region is teeming with nonprofits and volunteers from outside the area with good intentions, bad actors can slip into the disarray unnoticed — especially as law enforcement has shifted away from typical disaster response duties, said Marc Nichols, a law enforcement consultant. , member of the committee and the retired major of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Now “the Atlanta cartels are all pushing people into South Carolina, North Carolina, trying to recruit and find victims,” ​​Nichols said at the commission meeting late last month.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said in an email that the office has not filed human trafficking charges in the district since Helene, but that “the safety and well-being of all communities in Western NC are our priority, and we are fully committed to bringing to justice individuals who seek to profit from criminal acts and the exploitation of vulnerable populations.”

The risks

North Carolina was a hotbed of human trafficking even before the storm. partly because from major highways and the large agricultural industry, which needs cheap labor. The state ranked number 10 in the nation for cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2023. The hotline identified 235 cases of human trafficking in North Carolina, which is likely a small portion of the total.

Natural disasters exacerbate factors such as food and housing instability, which can make people vulnerable to human trafficking, said Leanne McCallum Desselle, research analyst and training and technical assistance provider at RTI International. They also create job opportunities that can be attractive to at-risk populations.

“People may come and say things like, ‘I have food, shelter and clothing for you, but you need to come with me now,’” says McCallum Desselle, who link between human trafficking and disasters. “Offers that are too good to be true or wages that are too good to be true can be very attractive when you have lost everything.”

Danyelle Smith, co-executive director of The Bridge Internationalan anti-trafficking nonprofit in Boone, told the committee that storm-related stress can activate people’s maladaptive coping mechanisms. That could mean one increase in substance usewhich one Human traffickers can then abuse it Unpleasant coerce or control victims.

Asheville-based non-profit organization against human trafficking and sexual violence Our voice has heard law enforcement and victim reports of forced labor in cleanup efforts after Helene, said Rita Sneider-Cotter, executive director. Some of these cases have evolved into sex trafficking, she said during the committee meeting.

As the storm destroyed telecommunications and internet infrastructure, a estimated $101 million in damageit has disabled Our Voice’s 24/7 human trafficking crisis line in Buncombe, McDowell and Transylvania counties. A Jackson County nonprofit, the Center for Domestic Peacetook over the hotline for about two weeks, Sneider-Cotter said.

“It brought me to tears when that happened because we had no cell reception, so it was a challenge to figure out how to even switch hotlines,” Sneider-Cotter said.

Our Voice is back up and running with its crisis line, offering free support services during limited hours. Sneider-Cotter said the group is bracing for an influx of needs as recovery efforts continue.

“We were already in a really bad housing crisis, especially in Buncombe County, but really all of Western North Carolina,” Sneider-Cotter told the committee. “This disaster will only make that worse, and we know it will cause an increase in human trafficking.”

Finding safe shelter is especially important for human trafficking survivors, who are more susceptible to returning to the same situation, said Nichols, the law enforcement consultant. He said traffickers, even those linked to crime groups, look like ordinary people. Law enforcement has been working to investigate volunteers at shelters, but it is still in “response mode,” Nichols said, so it is difficult to say whether the law enforcement community has the manpower to scrutinize every incoming group.

Dean Duncan, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill and an Asheville resident who leads Project No restan anti-trafficking initiative targeting north carolina youth, said he has seen misinformation about child trafficking on social media, including false claims that dozens of children in Spruce Pine were missing after the storm.

A long-term concern

Although it has been nearly two months since Helene passed through western North Carolina, the risk of human trafficking in the region will only increase. In long-term recovery from a disaster, McCallum Desselle said, the workers who helped rebuild were – often migrants on temporary work visas or who are in the country without legal permission – are among the most vulnerable to labor trafficking.

After Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of guest workers, tied to their employers by temporary visas, moved to the United States to take cheap repair jobs on the Gulf Coast. Some were recruited to fill vacancies left by evacuees.

One shipbuilding and repair company, Signal International, in 2006 Indian migrant workers lured in a labor trafficking scheme with the false promise of becoming lawful permanent residents of the US. More than 225 employees were forced to live in squalid labor camps and repair of damaged oil rigs, the company sued. One group won a $14 million verdict, and Signal International settled another lawsuit for $20 million.

In 2007, a district court in North Carolina awarded a nearly $1 million judgment to a group of Thai workers against a company they claimed was holding them captive. sometimes with gunswhile they were being transported from North Carolina to New Orleans to demolish buildings. A survey of disaster recovery workers in New Orleans found that almost half were not fully paid for their work and 55 percent were not paid overtime.

Another major risk group, says McCallum Desselle, are children. “They may experience sex trafficking by family members, sometimes driven by substance use, trauma or lack of economic opportunity,” she said, especially if they are out of school for weeks.

Most school districts affected by Helene have reopened. The Asheville Citizen Times reports. Children from Yancey County back to school on Monday.

Last week, Nichols said he planned to meet with Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger’s team to discuss anti-trafficking efforts. NC Newsline reports this that the Legislature could consider an $830 million Helene relief package during its four-day session next week, but it is not clear whether a bill will be introduced or what it will entail.

“We are going to do everything we can to prevent this heinous crime from happening,” Nichols said. “I’ve interviewed and spoken to many victims and survivors, and it’s just hard to describe the trauma these people live with every day.”

For Helene’s survivors, McCallum Desselle said they should remember that “not all help is good help.”

“If you have been affected by the storm, when accepting help and support, make sure you are using vetted resources,” McCallum Desselle said. “So look at your local government, federal government, established nonprofits. Basically, I just want to make sure you can verify who they are and what they do.

This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.