The community event with Catholic Charities on February 20th went well, and we made connections with the San Antonio Police Dept.

We were also able to present to the Laredo Health Dept. on March 6th, 2009. Many questions were answered, and a strong connection was made with the staff there. We will be conducting outreach events together in the future.

We’ve done some great work with San Antonio Churches who want to get involved and volunteer, and we marched in the Woman’s Day March on March 7th.  We had the opportunity to speak about what we do and what human trafficking is.

Laredo

Our most recent event was in Laredo, Texas with a few different groups. We held a training for Avance Laredo, a small NGO that gives parenting classes. These classes are aimed at those who have a strong desire to take ESL courses and eventually move on to take their GED. The women there were amazing! They knew their immigration law to a tee! We helped them understand the difference between human trafficking and smuggling, and it was a great success!

We also held a training for new cadets at Laredo Police Department. The new cadets were very interested in trafficking and found themselves asking us, “Who do we go to if we find a victim of trafficking?” We realized we need to have a meeting with ICE in Laredo in order to coordinate  local law enforcement and federal law enforcement efforts to help victims of trafficking.

We spoke with the Laredo Sheriff’s Dept. as well. The detectives were quite knowledgeable on the issue, but the street officers were not as savvy. After our training, though, they understood that contacting TRLA or the trafficking hotline might be a way to help them help a victim.

Finally, our meeting with the Mexican Consulate went amazingly well. They are so interested in collaborating with us and using our outreach materials in the Laredo Colonias and helping their residents with immigration issues, including helping their clients obtain human trafficking visas.

Eagle Pass

What a fantastic experience! In January we made some great contacts in Eagle Pass. We had a community meeting at the Mexcian Consulate and taught the community all they need to know about human trafficking! Well, as much as we could in an hour! They were a great group and they wanted further resources from us.

We also spoke with the women’s  shelter in Carrizo Springs. The staff allowed us to come share some tips with them on human trafficking and how to identify victims that they deal with everyday. What nice people they were!

We made some great media contacts as well in Del Rio, Uvalde and Eagle Pass.

The Valley

We made some great contacts with local law enforcement in Port Isabel, and Brownsville and federal agents in Harlingen, McAllen, and Brownsville.

San Antonio and Austin Human Trafficking Coalitions

The TRLA outreach coordinator stays involved in both coalitions and she will keep you up-to-date on the latest going on with each group.

Save the Date

July 2-3, 2008

Catholic Charities of San Antonio

Will be hosting a 2-day

Training on Human Trafficking

The training is ideal for professionals working in law enforcement, social services, medical and mental health, legal services, victim’s advocacy, child welfare, community based services, faith-based outreach and advocacy, and more….

The event is FREE and will include panels on:

· The identification of human trafficking victims

o Sex Trafficking

o Labor Trafficking/Debt Bondage/Domestic Servitude

o Child Victims

o US Citizen & Foreign Born Victims

· Key law enforcement strategies for proactively investigating and prosecuting cases

· Services and benefits available to victims

· Special considerations when working with victims of human trafficking

· Working collaboratively—the interagency/interdisciplinary approach

CEUs, CLEs, and TECLOSE credits will be available

Registration will be available online, email, and by fax in the upcoming weeks.

This is a two-day event, hotel accommodations are available at the Conference hotel for the Federal rate ($112) for all guests; state rates and/or tax exempt will be honored for qualifying overnight guests

This event is co-hosted by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the South Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking/Slavery

For more information, please contact the Catholic Charities Anti-Human Trafficking Program:

Hilary Chester

210-242-3134

atp@ccaosa.org

Funding for this training is provided by the US Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (through grant: 2006-VT-BX-K013)