N.M. Senate Votes To Make Human Trafficking A Crime
By Deborah Baker/
Associated Press
SANTA FE — With just a week to go in the 30-day legislative session, the Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that makes human trafficking a separate, felony crime.
The legislation, which is sought by Attorney General Gary King, went to the House.
"What human trafficking is, is really modern-day slavery,'' said Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, the bill's sponsor.
New Mexico is the only border state that does not have a separate crime against human trafficking and could become a corridor for the activity, Garcia said.
There was no debate on the measure.
In human trafficking, victims are transported or held against their will, or fraudulently lured into the sex trade or other exploitative work situations.
It would be a third-degree felony, unless the victim was under 13, in which case it would be a first-degree felony, or under 16, which would be a second-degree felony.
The legislation says the attorney general must make sure that state or local law enforcement agencies protect victims from retaliation when they're helping authorities. And prosecutors must help victims with documentation if they petition for a change in their immigration status.
Victims also may file civil actions against traffickers, under the bill.
King and his counterpart from neighboring Chihuahua, Mexico — Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez — signed an agreement recently to coordinate efforts in the fight against human trafficking.
King says the breadth of the problem in New Mexico isn't known, although there have been some cases. One of them, in 2005, involved three restaurants in Albuquerque accused by federal authorities of harboring undocumented immigrants from various countries who were forced to work long hours for little pay. Plea agreements were reached.
The legislation has the support of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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