The scope of this is incredible … but this happens on a smaller scale with great frequency,” says Cecelia Friedman Levin, a staff attorney at ASISTA Immigration Assistance in Des Moines, Iowa. “Individuals who are crossing the border in this way are subject to a tremendous amount of exploitation.”
Often that exploitation stays in the shadows. But in this case, five suspects were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of human smuggling and possible other crimes. A tip came into police from relatives of a woman and two small children who were not dropped off Tuesday as had been arranged.
After police found the people crammed into the squalid house, two were hospitalized Wednesday and the rest were taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be fed and questioned, ICE spokesman Greg Palmore said. They were primarily from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and appear to have been victims of a trafficking ring, he said.
What happens next likely will depend on people’s individual circumstances and the discretion of ICE officials, immigration experts say. Some of them may be deported quickly, while others may qualify for special visas intended to encourage undocumented immigrants who have been victims of serious crimes to help in the investigation and prosecution. Still others may qualify for help available to unaccompanied minors and victims of sexual violence.
In a group that large, officials will also have to investigate whether some of the people rounded up may have been assisting to hold others captive, says Michael A. Olivas, who teaches immigration law and policy at the University of Houston Law Center.
It’s unlikely that mental health assistance or pro bono legal counsel will be available for most of the victims, because demand for such services far outweighs supply, Professor Olivas says.ICE does have victim witness specialists to work with people in the context of trafficking cases. But the Monitor could not reach ICE Thursday for comment on whether such specialists are available in this case.