Immigration attorneys

Many foreign-born human trafficking victims in Oregon are citizens of Central and South American countries. Immigration attorneys have proven invaluable partners in PPB’s efforts to identify and document survivors.

Foreign government consular offices

Since 2016, the PPB has actively engaged with the Office of the Mexican Consulate in Portland on the issue of trafficking victims. Given its status as an official government entity and its numerous programs and services, which it is not uncommon for foreign-born trafficking victims to seek, the Consular Office is uniquely positioned to connect with community-based organizations and advocacy groups serving Mexican-national crime victims, and staff members can often readily identify survivors.

The PPB’s partnership with the Mexican Consular Office has created opportunities for officers and investigators to attend legal clinics and other Spanish-language events from which law enforcement personnel have historically been excluded. This, in turn, has allowed PPB representatives to establish contact with potential trafficking survivors in new and innovative settings. As a result, the PPB has gradually come to be viewed by many in local Spanish-speaking immigrant communities as among those organizations involved in the collective effort to serve and support trafficking survivors rather than exclusively as a law enforcement agency.

Another positive outcome of this partnership has been the documentation of several labor trafficking cases that otherwise would not have been reported to the criminal justice system. Successful police department–consular office partnerships will likely promote increased trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement agencies and encourage immigrant community members to report other criminal offenses and violations.

Portland State University

Officer Natasha Haunsperger analyzed labor trafficking cases reported by local immigration attorneys between 2010 and 2015. This analysis revealed that many trafficking victims whom local police officers contacted during the time frame in question did not disclose any information about their victimization. The analysis further revealed that officers did not possess the requisite baseline knowledge of labor trafficking indicators and red flags necessary to identify likely victims. In addition, victims in many reported cases waited, on average, between five and 10 years before seeking assistance from an immigration attorney or providing testimony in furtherance of a law enforcement investigation. Likely factors contributing to such delays include limited English-language proficiency, a lack of understanding of legal rights, and victims’ safety concerns when contacted in the presence of traffickers.

To facilitate better communication between potential trafficking victims and law enforcement officers, the PPB partnered with a marketing lab in Portland State University’s School of Business to create a public awareness campaign: “Red Means Help.” The premise behind the campaign was straightforward: to create, publicize, and implement a system whereby trafficking victims could display a red object and alert law enforcement officers to a human trafficking situation and request assistance via nonverbal communication, i.e., without the need for English-language proficiency.

• TriMet (Portland-based mass transit agency): An integral component of the “Red Means Help” campaign was the PPB’s partnership with TriMet, the public agency tasked with providing mass transit services throughout the Portland metro area. TriMet agreed to display campaign posters on its buses and used demographic data algorithms to identify non–English language predominant areas of Portland. This information was used to align foreign-language poster displays with appropriate bus routes throughout the city.
• Portland Fire Bureau: A second phase of the “Red Means Help” campaign, intended to enlist the assistance of Portland Fire Bureau firefighters and paramedics, was stalled in 2020 by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest, both of which necessitated a temporary reshuffling of resources and priorities. The “Red Means Help” campaign is an excellent example of multiple sectors coming together to identify tangible, jurisdiction-unique, and tailored solutions and prevention strategies.