 

I am interested in this research question because human trafficking has become on ongoing problem and I am curious on how the United States should treat the people who have been trafficked. Once we find the victims of human trafficking, the real question is what are we supposed to do with them here in the United States. For example, should it be our responsibility to grant them asylum and protect them or do we deport them back to their native countries. This research affects me because human trafficking is going on every day around me. Fear of deportation stops human trafficking victims from reporting crimes. Therefore, there are not only helpless victims around but also criminals who need to be put away. My values are completely against human trafficking because I feel that people should not be used for the purpose of some form of forced exploitation. Although I do not have any personal experience related to human trafficking I am still qualified to write about this subject because I have been doing extensive research that allows me to figure out the truth behind the whole situation.

My first source of evidence comes from an informatory article called "Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls". This article explains how sex trafficking has become a very significant and growing problem not only in the United States but also in the larger global community. It explains how the victims of sex trafficking acquire physical and psychological health conditions and that healthcare professionals can work to improve the screening, identification, and assistance of victims of sex trafficking in a clinical setting. It also states important claims such as 


there are approximately 800,000 trafficked across international borders and of those 80% are women or girls and 50% are minors. This is a credible source because it is written by two female doctors who have stated their claims on the health and psychological problems that these victims face. There is no bias throughout this article because it is strictly focusing on the facts rather then choosing a side. 

My second article is an article that was written in the Huffington post called "Silencing Human Trafficking Victims in America". This article primarily focuses on the fear of deportation human traffickers experience. Many women report that their employers use their immigration status to control and exploit them by saying if they try and leave the police will find them and deport them. Hundreds of immigrants were arrested and deported without screening that would have identified them as victims. This article argues that our own state governments are undermining efforts with extremely harsh and indiscriminate crackdowns on immigrants rather then focusing on these people as victims of a crime. There is bias in this article because the author has worked with nannies, housekeepers, and other domestic workers in the Washington metropolitan area who have survived human trafficking and she sees this situation from the perspective of the victim. Therefore, she is more sympathetic for these women because she has gotten first hand experience to understand what they have gone through. Although the author has a sense of bias this is still a credible source because all of the facts come from reliable sources. 

My third article called "Human Trafficking: A Crime Hard to Track Proves Harder to Fight" describes a specific example that a woman named Oksana experienced. She was promised a good job with good pay when she came to the US from Ukraine. The deal she expected was to come here and work for three years to pay off her debt and then she would be free on her own. 


However, when she arrived in Philadelphia what she eventually learned was that she had been sucked into a human trafficking organization, which smuggled young Ukrainian migrants into the US and forced them to work for little or no pay. Her boss had also been beating and sexually assaulting the women she had been working with. However, the main problem comes with gaps in screening because this lack of sufficient screening procedures can cause victims who would be eligible for federal protection to be deported. The author of this article wrote this piece for the purpose of showing awareness. She wanted to let people know what the victims of human trafficking have been going through. She states evidence from different sources including the FBI, the Secretary of State, and the Immigrants and Customs Enforcement division. Therefore, this is a credible source because all of her information is coming from reliable sources. 

This research question is arguable because some people may feel that human trafficking victims should return to their native countries and it is not our responsibility to help them. However, most of these victims are being smuggled into the US by US citizens. Therefore, it should be our responsibility to help give these people asylum and allow them to be protected in the United States. Agreements I found between my articles was that they all prove that there is a lack of screening which could leave victims who would be eligible for federal protections instead open to deportation. I might need to revise my research questions when I further my research.    
