This Would Fight Human Trafficking as Much as Anything

   A great way to encourage human trafficking is to deport the undocumented among us. And, yes, I'm chiding you. I'm not joking, but I am chiding. I'm correcting you -- maybe even mocking you.
  When traffickers run across immigrants who are here illegally, they threaten to turn them in if they won't work for them at reduced rates. Yes, it does happen. A news story on the radio today discussed it. It suggested this is one of the most common forms of human trafficking in Utah -- making them work cheaply in exchange for not being turned in.
  The poor foreign laborer cannot reject the offer. If they say, No, thanks; I already have a job, the extorters simply tell them they will turn them in if they don't make a rapid change of employers.
   You want to do away with human trafficking in the United States? One of the most meaningful things you could do would be to legalize immigration and legalize their right to work. Globally, about 25 million people are subjected to human trafficking and forced labor. This need not be. We could wipe out one of the largest (if not the largest) causes of human trafficking if we would just let people live, just let them work. We are talking about some of the poorest people on earth. The traffickers haul away with an estimate $150 billion in illicit profits at their expense each year. We are responsible for this. We created this system. It is us who gave the predators the leverage to exploit these poor from other countries.
   We aren't too smart, but we sure are self-righteous. All the while we are accommodating the traffickers -- all the while we are making it so miserable on the immigrants -- we are calling them names, demeaning them and making sure they realize they don't belong here. 
   We treat them as criminals, but it is we who are better fit to the description.