AZMEX I3 8-4-14

AZMEX I3 8 APR 2014


Note: First this one

Phoenix agency helping victims, educating public on sex trafficking
By: David Hensley/Special contributor to KTAR.com
Originally published: Apr 7, 2014 - 5:05 pm

http://ktar.com/22/1721040/Phoenix-agency-helping-victims-educating-public-on-sex-trafficking

PHOENIX -- Over 200 girls are expected to be forced into sex trafficking this year, according to StreetLightUSA, a Phoenix organization that aims to put an end to child rape.

"In 2012 we served 41 girls. In 2013 we served 131," StreetLightUSA Public Awareness Manager Norma Salas said. "In 2014 we are estimating that we will serve 260."

StreetLightUSA helps victims who have been forced into sex trafficking readjust to normal life.

"Our mission is to transition adolescents from trauma to triumph," Salas said. "We provide a variety of programs so that girls can build better futures and become strong, independent women."

Among the programs offered are art, music, writing, coping skills development, therapy and other activities to help overcome trauma.

Aside from helping girls after they have experienced the world of sex trafficking, StreetLightUSA educates law enforcement and community organizations on how to handle sex trafficking.

"We regularly train first responders, probation offices, COPS caseworkers and court personnel on recognizing the signs of trafficking," Salas said, adding the organization also offers training to members of the public, church groups, civic clubs and university organizations.

In an attempt to stop the spread of sex trafficking, Phoenix Police have also begun holding seminars in schools and other community settings so that citizens will know how to identify the crime, according to Police Sgt. Chris Bray.

"There is education going out to a broader group of people," Bray said. "They might be able to recognize or report on it unlike before."

The seminars are generally briefings on what sex trafficking around the nation looks like, ranging from traditional methods to the use of certain websites such as Arizona-owned Backpage.com, which markets both prostitutes and victims.

"It manifest itself in so many ways," he said. Because of its various propagation, Bray believes that "you really can't say this area or that area," when it comes to narrowing down sex trafficking concentration to one part of the city, he said.

Phoenix is high on the list of cities with instances of sex trafficking. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is hoping to get the Valley to drop off the list, documents showed.

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Note: and then reality


UNSECURED BORDER ENCOURAGES CHILD VICTIMIZATION, SAYS FORMER BORDER PATROL ORG

by KRISTIN TATE 31 Mar 2014 24

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/31/Former-Border-Patrol-Agent-Weak-Borders-Cause-Child-Victimization

During one week in March, Mexican authorities discovered over 370 children abandoned by individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. According to a foreign wire report, 163 of the recovered minors were "dumped" because they were not traveling with an adult guardian.
The Mexican National Institute of Migration said in a recent press release that children entering the U.S. alone have recently "increased significantly." Some experts assert that this figure has increased because U.S. border security has been weakened by left-wing efforts.

Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), said it is not uncommon for children to be abandoned during the smuggling process. While he was a Border Patrol agent, Taylor encountered many children left by traffickers in the U.S. after a smuggler had successfully gotten them into the country.

In most cases, Mexican parents will pay a smuggler $5,000-6,000 to transport their child across the border, according to Taylor. Once the child successfully enters the U.S., a trafficker then typically holds them until a second payment is received from the parents. Once the subsequent payment is made, the trafficker takes the child to their destination city. Taylor told Breitbart Texas, "Now the parents have a child, or several children, here in the U.S. This compels them to follow their children and enter the country as well."
Children may be abandoned during the smuggling process for various reasons, Taylor added. In some cases, the smuggler decides it is too dangerous to take the child across the border—in other instances the parents cannot afford the second round of payments once the child is inside the U.S.
Discarded children often become victims of human trafficking or other forms of slavery, Taylor said.

"The U.S. is partly responsible for foreign nationals taking extreme measures that risk the lives of their children," Taylor said. "Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay." He argued foreign nationals are compelled to enter the U.S. illegally because the Obama Administration pushes a narrative which victimizes immigrants--while demonizing Border Patrol Agents. That narrative is subsequently trumpeted and intensified by the left-leaning media.
The U.S. continues to embolden the horrors of illegal immigration by not shining a light on it, Taylor continued.

"Many of the crimes committed by aliens are so great, that to not to speak out against it shows you are complicit in it," Taylor said. He noted that in Dallas, Texas instead of focusing on the many issues facing the city due to illegal immigration, the media chooses to focus on issues of lesser importance. "All they're talking about right now is the plastic bag ban in Dallas," Taylor said. "That's deflecting attention away from what really matters."

"The media, and in some circumstances the government, plants environmental issues in front of the various heinous crimes happening simultaneously," Taylor said. "They are actively diverting scrutiny away from what is eroding the family in the U.S. and Mexico... the important thing to remember about border issues is that nothing is ever as it seems."

END