100 found in Houston ‘stash house’ – horrors routine, but on bigger scale

In 2000, as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, Congress set up two categories of visas, known as U and T, for victims of a specified list of crimes who experienced substantial harm and would be helpful in prosecuting the crime. Among the listed crimes that could potentially be relevant in this case: kidnapping, holding someone hostage, extortion, false imprisonment, and trafficking.

However, law enforcement officials have to certify that someone qualifies for such a visa. “I would hope that ICE would offer that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t,” says Suzanne Tomatore, director of the Immigrant Women & Children Project at the City Bar Justice Center in New York.

Ms. Tomatore often assists undocumented immigrants who were sexually abused during their journey to the US and says that officials should always screen for sexual violence when people have been smuggled. Sixteen women, a 7-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and about a dozen other juveniles were among those found in Houston.

It’s also common for people who pay someone to bring them here illegally to then be threatened and held if they don’t pay more than was originally agreed upon, Tomatore and others say.

Two of the suspected smugglers in the Houston case had handguns with them when they were pulled over in their car as they were leaving the house Wednesday morning, police said.

ICE says on its website that it has “embarked on an ambitious strategy to dismantle organized human smuggling networks,” with a particular emphasis on smuggling rings that engage in violence, hostage-taking, or extortion.

The Houston area had a similar case in 2012, when 86 people were discovered in a house.

Earlier this month, a federal jury in Houston convicted Samuel Castro-Flores, a Mexican national, on 18 counts, including hostage-taking and extortion, for asking family members to pay ransoms for people brought illegally into the US. He is due to be sentenced in June and could face life in prison.

Material from Associated Press was used in this report.

Article Appeared @http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0320/100-found-in-Houston-stash-house-horrors-routine-but-on-bigger-scale-video

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