Understanding the Vulnerability of Homelessness and Human Trafficking
Written by Free to Thrive Community Outreach Coordinator
Summary of recent news event
Recently, allegations regarding labor trafficking were made against Imperial Valley Ministries. According to their website, Imperial Valley Ministries operates a Men’s Ranch, Women’s House, School of Ministry, School of Music and a Children’s Ministry. The organization also operates approximately 30 affiliate church groups in the US and Mexico. Individuals affiliated, with this group, including a former pastor, Victor Gonzalez, were arrested on September 10, 2019 in Texas, El Centro and San Diego. The FBI is investigating Mr. Gonzalez and Imperial Valley Miniseries for “charges of forced labour, conspiracy, document servitude and benefits fraud”.
News coverage suggests that Imperial Valley Ministries would pick up vulnerable homeless people and offer them shelter through a group home. Once there, the victims were forced to hand over their documents/I.D., panhandle on the streets for up to nine hours a day six days a week, turn all money and belongings over to the church and were locked inside the group homes with the windows nailed shut. The rules also included no contact with any family or friends for the first 30 days, not discussing “things of this world” and only being permitted to read the Bible. The church leaders also took all of their public assistance and if rules were broken they were punished through withholding food, even diabetic medicine. The victims were told that no one cared about them and that “only God loved them now.”
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, “It advertised itself to the community as ‘missionaries to the drug addicts’ and providing ‘no charge homes for men and women with drug-related problems,’ according to the indictment. The church, however, is not registered as a nonprofit nor is it licensed as a rehabilitation facility, investigators say.”
The Union Tribune also stated, “church leaders turned to psychological coercion to prevent people from leaving, including threats that their children would be taken away, that their loved ones had rejected them and that “only God” loved them, according to the indictment.”
One 17-year-old girl broke through a window at one of the homes and ran to a neighboring house. She was taken to the hospital for cuts from her escape, which prompted police to investigate further. Her allegations were not the first; there had been many alleged victims and code violations over the years. Search warrants were served in May 2018 for the El Centro headquarters and group homes. Complaints and allegations that it is a cult date back to as early as July 2017.
Understanding Labor Trafficking
The labor traffickers have some kind of physical or psychological control over the victim, this can be anything from physical abuse, confiscation of passport or I.D., threat of harm, etc. A victim does not have to be transported anywhere to be a labor trafficking victim. The National Human Trafficking Hotline states, “common types of labor trafficking include people forced to work in homes as domestic servants, farmworkers coerced through violence as they harvest crops, or factory workers held in inhumane conditions with little to no pay”.
It is harder to find accurate statistics on labor trafficking. According to an article from Frontline, “Prosecutors may be swayed by greater public sympathy for victims of sex trafficking, they say, than for labor trafficking victims. They say that undocumented victims fear reporting abuse and that law enforcement officials are often unfamiliar with how to investigate labor trafficking cases, which can be harder to prove than cases involving sex trafficking.” However, labor trafficking is very common both domestically and abroad; many American consumers likely unwittingly consume products tainted by labor trafficking in some way.
Homelessness as a vulnerability to sex and labor trafficking
According to Polaris, “U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, women, men, children, and LGBTQ individuals can be victims of labor trafficking. Vulnerable populations are frequently targeted by traffickers. Immigration status, recruitment debt, isolation, poverty, and a lack of strong labor protections are just some of the vulnerabilities that can lead to labor trafficking.”
Homeless individuals make up an increasingly vulnerable population. The need for food and shelter, two basic needs, can make anyone susceptible to exploitation. However, homeless people can also have multiple and compounding vulnerabilities. A homeless immigrant, for example, faces even greater barriers than a homeless citizen of the United States. Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, having certain mental health issues, and isolation from peers or family can increase how vulnerable an individual is. Each of these vulnerabilities can increase the likelihood of exploitation in an individual, and it is compounded in individuals who lack shelter security.
The rate of homelessness in San Diego is among the highest in the nation. The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, made to Congress, indicates that San Diego has the fourth-largest homeless population in the United States. The county experiences issues both with housing scarcity and rent increases that outpace salary growth.
Traffickers recruit at transit stops, churches, schools, shelters and places they might find more desperate and vulnerable victims. They often offer shelter, a job, or offer a meal. It’s reported that Imperial Valley Ministries recruited homeless individuals from outside Father Joe’s Village, an organization committed to serving the homeless population in San Diego.
Free to Thrive is grateful to Women Give San Diego for focusing on homelessness during this funding cycle, and for selecting Free to Thrive as one of the grant recipients. Together, we can improve the lives of the homeless population in San Diego and increase their access to justice. No one should be exploited during a period of housing instability or crisis.
If you want to get involved with Free to Thrive, please contact our Community Outreach Coordinator at infofreetothrive.org.
ResourcesCalifornia church leaders ‘used homeless as forced labour’. (2019, September 11). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49667769?fbclid=IwAR2cyXQpzG62VYGtoLi0RGT8H1kc8bfkibTwBGYLM_Y8ptk_97ituBDtXEY
Davis, K. (2019, September 11). El Centro church leaders indicted in labor trafficking scheme targeting homeless. Retrieved from https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2019-09-10/el-centro-church-leaders-indicted-in-labor-trafficking-scheme-targeting-homeless?fbclid=IwAR37eYpRZjzuCoFZON_i1UYQ8yKFCymVQKqE6F4_TU790sCedfQiCOD2OCM
Fact Sheet: Human Trafficking. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/resource/fshumantrafficking
Federal Law. (2016, September 26). Retrieved from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/federal-law
Flynn, M. (2019, September 11). A church lured in homeless people – then locked them in houses and forced them to panhandle, feds say. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/11/imperial-valley-ministries-homeless-forced-labor-charges/https://www.imperialvalleyministries.com/
Labor Trafficking. (2019, April 22). Retrieved from https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/labor-trafficking
Miller, L. (2018, April 24). Why is Labor Trafficking so hard to Track. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/why-labor-trafficking-is-so-hard-to-track/