San Antonio Standard

There are over 300,000 cases of human trafficking in Texas and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employees have learned to identify and combat cases while on the job at a February training. 

A study released by the University of Texas found that of those 300,000 victims, almost 234,000 are adult victims of labor trafficking.  

“Nearly 25 million people across the globe are victims of human trafficking, and this crime involves traffickers using our highways to move victims from city to city,” James Bass, TxDOT executive director said, according to the Texas Standard. “As transportation leaders, we can have a direct impact on illegal activity by educating and training our employees and bringing public awareness to the issue.”

In the training, consisting of roadside employees and contractors, the attendees learned how to question possible victims without frightening them. 

“Your trafficker would tell you not to talk to anybody,” Benjamin “Benz” Adriano, a victim of human trafficking from the Philippines, told the Texas Standard. “[Like] ‘Pretend you don’t speak English, don’t call the police – police is your enemy, police is not going to help you.'"

He signed up to work as a contractor in the United States and was promised work. What he came to was 18 hour days with minimal food and inadequate housing. 

“There are opportunities for our contractors and our employees to be aware of potential signs and how to report it. Whether or not it turns out to be an instance of human trafficking or not we just want to make sure that we are doing our part to stay vigilant to report any potential situations,” said Alex Villarreal Navarro, a TxDOT spokesperson, in an interview with the Texas Standard.