Yearly Archives: 2012
Posted inHuman Trafficking, Labor, Public Safety, Social Justice

State labor agencies slow to coordinate with law enforcement on trafficking cases

by Alejandra Cuéllar

This special report appeared in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Despite a strongly worded recommendation from a California-wide task force four years ago urging labor standards officials to look for signs of human trafficking, state and local investigators say there has so far been little coordination or direct follow-up with law enforcement or organizations supporting victims. The task force, which was disbanded in 2007 but is reconvening throughout this spring, outlined the need to identify and rescue victims — as opposed to deporting them in the course of routine labor enforcement sweeps.

Posted inElections, Human Trafficking, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Justice

California voter initiative would strengthen penalties for traffickers

by Leigh Cuen

This special report appeared in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

A California group dedicated to stopping human trafficking is hoping to take its fight directly to voters this fall. In January, the nonprofit advocacy group California Against Slavery began circulating petitions to get a measure on the November 2012 ballot to strengthen the state’s human trafficking laws. The measure is called the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, and the campaign has mobilized hundreds of people around the state to collect the 800,000 valid signatures required for the measure to make the ballot.

Posted inNews

Lack of primary and preventive care sends thousands to hospitals

by Public Press staff

By Bernice Yeung, California Watch Better access to primary health care and prevention programs could have kept thousands of California adults out of hospitals, according to a new statewide analysis. According to new data released  by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, there were more than 335,000 adult hospitalizations in California that could […]

Posted inNews

Fines for double parking and sidewalk cyclists go up

by San Francisco Public Press

Double-parkers, vehicles obstructing traffic and bicyclists who ride on the sidewalks are all facing hefty increases in fines after the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors approved the boosts on Tuesday.   Currently fines for vehicles obstructing traffic and riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is $50, while a fine for double-parking is […]

Posted inHuman Trafficking, News

U.S. visas help trafficking victims, if applicants can vault legal hurdles

by Ambika Kandasamy

Chance for permanent residency, access to federal benefits hinge on cooperating with law enforcement

This special report appeared in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

A special visa created 12 years ago to save thousands of victims of human trafficking and curb international human trafficking has been vastly underutilized. Attorneys for rescued victims seeking residency protection say law enforcement agencies are often unwilling or slow to “certify” victims’ claims of having been brought to the U.S. to work by force, fraud or coercion. Legal experts and social service providers in high-trafficking regions, including the San Francisco Bay Area, suggest that victims are placed in a dangerous dilemma: Promising to cooperate with an investigation could possibly help their visa cases, but it could also expose them and their families back home to retaliation.

Posted inNews

Homeowners and housing advocates call for temporary halt to foreclosures in state

by Public Press staff

By Zaineb Mohammed, New America Media A week after Attorney General Kamala Harris announced an $18 billion settlement for California’s foreclosure victims, homeowners and housing rights advocates declared the need to temporarily halt all foreclosure-related activity. During a foreclosure roundtable discussion held recently at the Mission Economic Development Agency, Alan Fisher, Executive Director of the […]

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