Human Trafficking in the Heartland of America

Human Trafficking
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Human Trafficking
“Trafficked in America” is a 2014 documentary that shows how Guatemalan teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 years were smuggled into Ohio in the United States of America (USA) to work at an egg farm. Parents of these young people were promised that their children will get work in the USA. They agreed to send these teenagers away due to poverty in Guatemala. Some of the families there had to go without food for some days due to poverty. The paper focuses on human trafficking as shown in “Trafficked in America.”
“Trafficked in America” reveals numerous problems related to human and labor trafficking. In particular, the primary issue was trafficking Guatemalan teenagers to work in Ohio at Trillium Farms. Parents of these young individuals were promised that their children will have a good life in the USA since they will be employed. However, Arnold Castillo, a renowned smuggler, who took teenagers away from their families made it clear that they had to pay $15,000 after work placement (“Trafficked in America,” 2018). Another problem revealed by the documentary is the deplorable conditions in which these teenagers working at the egg farm in Ohio were living. The minors worked for long hours and they lived in abandoned buildings without water. However, they did nothing since they were threatened that their land would be taken away or their family members would be killed if they do not work.
The primary problem as pointed out in “Trafficked in America” is the labor trafficking of minors. Traffickers had identified Guatemala since it was easy for them to convince parents to give away their children for a better life in the USA. In that light, the key cause of the issue is poverty. Many families in Guatemala live below the poverty line. Some days they go without food, which was why they gave their children away so that they can have better lives in the USA as promised by the human traffickers. Another cause of the human trafficking issue is the corrupt border patrol officers. For instance, many teenagers were detained by border patrol officers since they did not have legal documents to enter the USA. However, they were later released to traffickers (Barnes, 2018). As such, it appears that some border patrol officers were corrupt and knew about labor trafficking for minors.
Human trafficking is a national and international issue. Some farms in the USA facilitate this inhuman act so that they can get cheap labor. Specifically, one way that an organization can generate more profits is by getting workers they can pay low wages. That is why a firm, such as Trillium Farms, contracted a third party to get teenagers from Guatemala who can work for it. Since young individuals are vulnerable and can be manipulated easily, it makes them a target to human traffickers. For example, the Guatemalan teenagers smuggled into the USA to work in the Ohio egg farm were threatened that their parents or siblings will be killed if they do not work so that they can provide required services for more hours without complaining. They were paid $600...