WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. agencies are launching a coordinated campaign against human trafficking, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.
Joining other Cabinet members in an interagency task force Tuesday, Clinton called for "ending the practice of punishing the victims of human trafficking. For all the millions who are held in servitude, fewer than 50,000 have been officially identified as victims. Too many others are either ignored, or even worse, treated as criminals."
Clinton said some nations will be downgraded in the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report and the United States is being included for the first time. She said foreign diplomats will be briefed on their obligations to their domestic workers and a code of conduct is being drafted for private security contractors.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said new regulations will strengthen protection for farm workers.
"We reject the proposition that it is acceptable to pursue economic gain through force, fraud, and coercion of human beings," she said.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department "has prosecuted more human trafficking cases than ever before."
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said border authorities also have stepped up enforcement.
