Arkansans Lawmakers Vow Crackdown on Human Trafficking
By:
Updated: January 11, 2013
A bi-partisan group of Arkansas lawmakers Friday morning announced they intend to introduced bills aiming at cracking down on human trafficking.
"Human trafficking flies under the radar because if people actually knew about it and saw that it is a real problem, then they would put every effort they could into stopping it," said Rep. David Meeks (R) District 70.
An estimated 4 million to 27 million people, including children, live in modern day slavery, according to the Washington D.C.-based Polaris Project.
The U.S. ranks 3rd in the world when it comes to being a destination place for traffickers moving their human cargo, the project reports.
State lawmakers intend to introduce three bill this coming legislative session making human trafficking a Class A felony and establishing a legal framework to use forfeited assets to make restitution to victims and pay the law enforcement costs to pursue these crimes.
Lawmakers have not yet set the dates when they plan to introduce these bills.
"Human trafficking flies under the radar because if people actually knew about it and saw that it is a real problem, then they would put every effort they could into stopping it," said Rep. David Meeks (R) District 70.
An estimated 4 million to 27 million people, including children, live in modern day slavery, according to the Washington D.C.-based Polaris Project.
The U.S. ranks 3rd in the world when it comes to being a destination place for traffickers moving their human cargo, the project reports.
State lawmakers intend to introduce three bill this coming legislative session making human trafficking a Class A felony and establishing a legal framework to use forfeited assets to make restitution to victims and pay the law enforcement costs to pursue these crimes.
Lawmakers have not yet set the dates when they plan to introduce these bills.
