Human trafficking, often dubbed modern-day slavery, remains a pervasive global crime, exploiting millions for profit through force, fraud, or coercion. In the United States, the parallels between today’s trafficking and pre-Civil War slavery are striking yet distinct. While slavery before 1865 was legally sanctioned, racially targeted, and openly practiced, today’s trafficking operates in the shadows, ensnaring vulnerable individuals regardless of race or origin. Both systems, however, commodify humans, stripping them of autonomy for economic gain. In the antebellum South, enslaved people were bought and sold at auctions, their labor fueling agriculture. Today, traffickers exploit victims in industries like agriculture, domestic work, and, most prominently, the sex trade, generating an estimated $150 billion annually worldwide.
In the last 45 days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has continued its fight against this scourge. While exact arrest figures for January 20 to March 5, 2025, are not fully detailed in real-time public data, ICE’s historical performance offers insight. In Fiscal Year 2016, ICE arrested 1,952 traffickers and identified over 400 victims, and in 2019, it initiated 1,024 cases, leading to 2,197 arrests. Given this trend and ICE’s ongoing operations, it’s reasonable to estimate dozens of arrests in early 2025, aligning with their victim-centered approach to disrupt trafficking networks.
Cartels, particularly those along the U.S.-Mexico border, are key profiteers, leveraging porous borders to smuggle humans. They charge exorbitant fees—sometimes thousands of dollars per person—promising safe passage, only to exploit migrants further upon arrival. The sex trade is a primary avenue, with victims forced into prostitution or pornography, their earnings confiscated by traffickers. Children, especially unaccompanied minors, are particularly vulnerable, treated as disposable commodities. Studies suggest up to 60% of Latin American children crossing alone are ensnared by cartels, used in child pornography, drug trafficking, or sexual exploitation, and discarded when no longer profitable.
The Trump administration’s border policies, notably the “Remain in Mexico” policy and Title 42, aimed to curb this exploitation by tightening illegal crossings. By requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico and expelling migrants quickly during the pandemic, these measures reduced opportunities for traffickers to infiltrate the U.S. with victims. The 2019 ICE DNA testing pilot also targeted fraudulent family units, rescuing minors from recycling schemes. Critics argue these policies deterred legitimate asylum seekers, but supporters credit them with disrupting cartel operations, evidenced by a drop in unaccompanied minor encounters compared to later, more lenient policies under Biden.
Today, the three U.S. cities with the highest numbers of trafficking victims—often termed “current-day slaves”—are Houston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, hubs due to their large immigrant populations and international travel links. Sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, which limit cooperation with ICE, contrast with non-sanctuary cities like Houston. Sanctuary policies can inadvertently shield traffickers by reducing deportations, while non-sanctuary cities’ stricter enforcement may deter trafficking but risk misidentifying victims as criminals. Both approaches reveal a complex balance between security and compassion, underscoring the urgent need for nuanced solutions to end this modern enslavement.
