HUMAN TRAFFICKING BILLS ADVANCE IN LEGISLATURE
By Miriam Raftery
August 12, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Two bills aimed at fighting human trafficking are advancing in the Legislature. Both are authored by San Diego State Senator Marty Block.
Block says gangs are increasingly involved in human trafficking, selling young girls locallylocal into prostitution and immigrants into forced labor. Human trafficking cases have risen over 600% in San Diego in the past year as gangs rake in over $97 million from human sex trafficking in San Diego alone, KPBS reports.
SB 939 would consolidate prosecutions of human traffickers to make it easier to put them behind bars. That measure has passed both houses of the Legislature and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature.
The other measure, SB 473, would add human trafficking to the list of crimes considered gang activity, further aiding law enforcement efforts to crack down on criminal gang activity. The measure was passed by the Assembly with amendments and must be voted upon again in the Senate before advancing to the Governor.