When I held the first hearing on trafficking as chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights back in 1999. only a handful of countries had laws explicitly prohibiting the practice of human trafficking. Individuals who engaged in this exploitation did so without fear of legal repercussions. Victims of trafficking were treated as criminals and illegal immigrants. and had no access to assistance to escape the slaverylike conditions in which they were trapped. Few seemed to even be aware that this modern form of slavery was taking place. and those who did failed to recognize it as a violation of fundamental human rights. However. the situation has changed markedly over the past 6 years.
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illegal immigrants