By Alanna Durkin
Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general has he will lead a new panel to look at human trafficking in the state, which has an international border that some people note can make it easier to move victims in and out of the U.S.
The Michigan Commission on Human Trafficking will begin meeting this month to develop ways to prevent human trafficking and improve services for victims of what Attorney General Bill Schuette said is the second-fastest growing crime after drug trafficking.
The commission will include lawmakers, state officials, activists and law enforcement.
Human trafficking victims are often young women and children, who are coerced or forced into employment or prostitution with the promise of a job, money or refuge.
Schuette, a Republican, gave the example of a man who targeted teen runaways and forced them into prostitution.
The commission will examine current legislation and policy and review Michigan’s services for victims and efforts for training people who interact with victims, such as law enforcement and health care providers.
The group will also put together a statewide collection of data of human trafficking victims to get a better sense of the scope of the issue.
Schuette will present a report on the group’s recommendations to the Legislature and public at the end of the six month review.
The “modern-day form of slavery” is “happening every day,” said Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, who chairs the House Criminal Justice Commission and will be a member of the commission.
Sen. Judy Emmons, R-Sheridan, who recently introduced legislation that would impose harsher penalties on people who solicit teens for prostitution, said in a statement issued last week that Michigan’s border with Canada makes human trafficking more likely in Michigan.
An estimated 150 girls under the age of 18 are sold into sex trafficking each month in Michigan, she said.
Heise said the Legislature needs to “beef up” anti-human trafficking laws, so the attorney general has more “tools available to put the bad guys away.”
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