Julia smiles when she remembers the beaches where she grew up in Sao Paulo, the music of Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, or when she talks about her paintings.
In the lines and colors of each canvas, she experiments with styles, perfecting her gaze and searching for her truth.
"Painting heals me because I give myself completely and I manage to carry out an organic process. It highlights my soul and how something bad is transformed organically," he explains in a space at Camillus House, a Miami shelter institution, where he has lived for several months.
Julia, who requested anonymity for security reasons, is a 24-year-old Brazilian trans woman who at the end of March 2022
was rescued by the police from a human trafficking scheme that plunged her into the dark world of prostitution and physical and mental abuse.
Julia in an interview with Noticias Telemundo at Camillus House, in Miami, Florida, in early March 2023. Estephani Cano
She bitterly recalls that it all started as a chance meeting on a bus in Miami, where a man started talking to her and insisted that she give him her phone number.
An aggressive courtship immediately began and the next day they went out to eat.
Julia explains that she never imagined what was going to happen.
["They kill you, they kidnap you, they rape you": victims of trafficking denounce the dangers they face in Mexico]
"He locked me in a hotel room, took out his weapon and told me that I was not going to go out anymore. I was there for four days and he tortured me. I have suffered many forms of torture," he says despondently in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.
Her captor moved her from Florida to Georgia and then to Texas, where she says he forced her into prostitution and subjected her to intense physical and psychological torture.
She was rescued by the police three weeks later.
Julia now lives at Camillus House, an organization based in Miami-Dade County that has served the homeless and vulnerable populations such as victims of trafficking for more than 60 years.
“Miami has the highest number of cases in the state and Florida has third place for all calls to the national human trafficking hotline and all of that is from tourism.
People come from other states and from Latin America when big events are held here and we see an increase in cases of trafficking,” explains Hilda Fernandez, executive director of Camillus House.
[The family that prostituted Mexican girls in the United States is imprisoned]
According to data from the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, the state of Florida ranks third nationally in human trafficking crimes, behind California and Texas.
In 2021, the state registered 781 cases, which is 7.54% of the 10,360 that occurred in the US, according to statistics from the National Anti-Trafficking Hotline.
"It was thanks to my mom that I am here, if it weren't for her, I don't know what would have happened to me," says Julia about her rescue in 2022. Estephani Cano
According to data from the latest Department of Justice report on human trafficking, cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all US territories. During fiscal year 2021, the top three countries of origin of the identified victims were the United States, Mexico and Honduras.
That year, one hotline
received 66,308 notifications and identified 10,983 possible cases of
human trafficking.
"In the United States, the State Department acknowledges this problem because it has devoted many resources and time to combating trafficking, but it is never enough because there are always economic incentives on the subject of sexual exploitation. Criminals see women as people like their property and mistreat them a lot," says Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a specialist in criminal organizations and a scholar at George Mason University.
Criminals see people as their property and mistreat them terribly."
Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
In 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched 1,111 investigations related to human trafficking, up from 947 in 2020. In addition, the Department of Justice provided about $60 million for 85 awards supporting trafficking assistance programs throughout the United States.
However, that figure shows a reduction compared to the 74.6 million that was allocated in fiscal year 2020.
[84 Children and 141 Adults Rescued from Sex Trafficking Rings Between the FBI and 200 Federal, State and Local Agencies]
That year, DHS forensic interview specialists conducted 542 human trafficking-focused interviews using a trauma-informed approach, and victim assistance specialists assisted 728 trafficking victims.
"I was afraid, not only because he tortured me but also because he taught me how to do prostitution, he told me how that world works and how I should do that job and talk to men," Julia explains.
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In the past six months, the FBI has identified and located more than 500 minors and has arrested 159 people in trafficking investigations across the country.
In August 2022, Operation Cross Country located more than 200 victims of trafficking.
Julia says she was lucky because her mother, who lives on the other side of the world, in Japan, found it very strange that she couldn't communicate with her.
As the days went by, her relatives made a report to the authorities who began looking for her until they found her in Texas.
"I didn't know that people were looking for me until the police found me.
When the officers rescued me, they told me that my mom was worried and that she was looking for me," she says with tears in her eyes.
And she adds: "It was thanks to my mom that I am here, if it weren't for her, I don't know what would have happened to me."
Stunned, Julia says her mother prefers her to live in the United States because she believed it was a safer place for transgender people compared to Brazil, which for 14 years has led the world in murders of transgender people.
“What happened was the opposite.
We thought it would be a safer place, but no.
I believe that no place is safe.
We are very vulnerable,” she explains.
Julia painting in one of the spaces at Camillus House, in March 2023. Estephani Cano
According to the 2022 report of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, a Brazilian organization that defends the rights of the trans community, Brazil once again ranked first in the numbers of murders of transgender people with 96 deaths in the period between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022. Then follows Mexico, with 56 murders, and the United States, with 51.
"Now I have panic attacks. It's something I don't know how to control because it happens suddenly. I don't know when it's going to happen to me," Julia explains, about her traumatic experience.
"Many spend years under the control of traffickers"
At the Super Bowl, baseball championships, auto races, and other mass events, organizations like Camillus House have seen more requests for help with human trafficking incidents.
"During these events, specific programs have been implemented because victims often arrive and need help, saying that has been established as a common process. Tourism brings a lot of money to our economy, but unfortunately it also brings the trauma of human trafficking," says Fernandez.
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Between 2014 and 2015 the authorities came to Camillus House because they needed a safe space in which victims of trafficking could stay and start the recovery process, in addition to preparing to testify against the trafficker.
Since July 1, 2015, the institution has served 243 survivors of trafficking, 95% are women and the average age is 25 years, according to its records.
"Many of these people suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because they spend many years under the control of traffickers and with a very cruel life that affects them greatly. Our program offers them psychological care, therapies, educational opportunities and other help to overcome this trauma and get on with their lives," Fernandez explains.
Since 2012, the human trafficking unit of the
Miami-Dade prosecutor's office has handled 771 cases of this crime and has served 931 victims
. In addition, the data reflects that 92% of adult victims are women and, in In the case of minors, the figure rises to 96%.
[Five Hispanics are arrested for forced labor against migrants. "They were victims of a serious form of trafficking"]
"For these traffickers, the victims are money machines, so they fight not to lose them and many times they get violent with them. My recommendation is that they call the numbers that exist to report cases," explains Fernandez.
In mid-February, authorities in Polk County, Florida, arrested 213 people suspected of being linked to trafficking crimes.
In these arrests, 24 potential victims of trafficking were identified.
Over the months, Julia has been assisted by Camillus House programs, and actively participates in workshops where she has recovered her love for art.
She says that she spends long hours immersed in her chromatic experiments and looking for new forms of expression in the color palette.
"It's something very beautiful, very significant and symbolic. For me, painting is a way to help people. It not only changes the people who are looking at the painting, but also the person who is painting. I think art has given me saved," he asserts.
Other testimonies from victims: "The visa does not justify the mistreatment"
José Olmos left Mexico with the hope of giving his family a better future.
A recruiter contacted him and arranged for him to travel with four others to New Jersey, where he worked at various fairs cooking at fast food stands.
"They never told me how much they were going to pay me, after weeks they gave me my salary but it was very little. We lived in mobile homes, overcrowded, and at one point we had no water or electricity. It was very hard," Olmos explained during the presentation of a report by Polaris, an American organization that prevents and combats human trafficking.
With no money or safety nets, Olmos and other workers were forced to eat the food they sold, until one of their colleagues fell ill.
The owner of the fast food outlets refused to provide him with medical attention, so the worker went to the hospital by his own means.
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A social worker became interested in the case, hearing that the employee worked but his boss did not pay him on time, which triggered an investigation by US authorities.
We shouldn't go through all that suffering."
José Olmos Mexican migrant
"Now I realize that there are many things to fix with visas because the immigrant has a purpose, and sacrifices many emotional, social and cultural aspects to provide for his family. But we should not go through all that suffering, the visa does not justify mistreatment that is given to us," said Olmos, who collaborated with authorities in the investigation and now has a work permit in the United States.
Trafficking is a crime with multiple modalities and abuses in the labor aspect are part of that scourge.
A simple definition would be that we are facing a situation of labor trafficking when "a person uses force, fraud or coercion to obtain the work or services of another person," according to the State Department.
“Before, slaves were chained, but now with technology and social networks those chains are invisible.
These are huge debts that bind the workers or concrete threats against them or their families if they come to denounce.
They tell you that you are going to work under certain conditions and hours, but that is not fulfilled and they exploit you,” explains Andrea Rojas, director of strategic initiatives on labor trafficking at Polaris.
Before, slaves were chained, but now with technology and social networks those chains are invisible."
Andrea Rojas, director of polaris
In 2021, a US Department of Health and Services program served 3,461 trafficking victims.
Of that number, 68% corresponded to survivors of labor trafficking.
That same year, the National Hotline against Human Trafficking —which is operated by Polaris— registered
50,123 contacts related to situations of forced labor
or labor exploitation.
"We hear many reports of people with legal temporary work visas that are H-2A, for agricultural work, or H-2B, for temporary non-agricultural work, ending up in situations of exploitation and trafficking. We began to investigate more, and We saw that the temporary visa system presents conditions that make it easier for unscrupulous people to take advantage of these immigrants," says Rojas.
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In its most recent report on trafficking, the State Department warns that various NGOs have denounced that formal and informal recruiters, as well as labor contractors and agents, charge workers recruitment fees that are prohibited, in addition to failing to comply with "other practices intended to prevent workers from experiencing higher risk situations."
"There are colleagues who work in the strawberry harvest in California and they told us that all the workers were left in tents outside, in the middle of the cold and with COVID. Many became seriously ill," says Margarita Cruz, director of Mujeres en Defensa de la Mujer, an association from San Quintín, a region of Baja California that is an important agricultural center located near the border with the United States.
All the workers were left in tents outside, in the middle of the cold and with COVID.
Many became ill and serious"
Margarita Cruz, Women in Defense of Women
In June 2021, Polaris published a report outlining trends in labor trafficking complaints in the US amid the pandemic.
The proportion of probable victims of labor trafficking, who were H-2A visa holders and suffered fraud during their employment, rose from 80% before the pandemic to almost 100%.
"Recently, a colleague who worked in the grape harvest fell dead, and the foremen left him lying there, all day, until the end of the shift. Those things happen all the time in the United States, but people do not report for fear of losing their job," says Cruz.
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According to the report, the number of people who were denied the necessary conditions to cover their daily needs, as well as situations of harassment and threats to harm them or their families, also increased.
In addition, those who declared that they were denied medical care increased significantly from less than 20%, before the pandemic, to 34% in the period after.
"It is sad and painful because they take advantage of the day laborer's need to bring an economic resource for poverty in our country. Many times they work 13 or 14 hours a day and do not realize that they are experiencing labor exploitation," Cruz asserts.
"They look down on us, they don't believe in us"
Jessica Carrillo says that the past gives her the strength to help other people.
Growing up in California, she faced difficult situations in places where drugs and bad decisions were a constant that led her to fall into a trafficking scheme.
"I am also a victim of all this and I managed to get out thanks to the help of my husband and God. Now we dedicate ourselves to working very hard and, in what we can, we also collaborate with survivors of trafficking looking for jobs for them," she explains with a big smile.
Along with Fernando, her husband, Carrillo runs 5 Star Job Source, a small employment agency located in South Gate, California, that has 20 clients and about 120 employees.
"Many people who are victims of trafficking find it difficult to find work because they look down on us, they don't believe in us... sometimes they don't even believe themselves. So they can't work or collaborate with their families, but in the company it has been an experience very beautiful because we were able to help them", explains Carrillo.
In 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prosecuted 15 counts of discrimination related to human trafficking, up from three in 2020. However, activists and experts say that many victims do not file complaints about the mistreatment they receive due to the fear of losing job opportunities.
A lot of people who are victims of trafficking have a hard time finding a job because they look down on us, they don't believe in us."
jessica carrillo, survivor and businesswoman
"I did not expect the kind treatment that I received from Jessica and the entire team. They have been a moral support for my life because it is very important to be busy. When you have nothing to do, you get used to the previous life, to the bad thoughts and bad experiences," explains Marta, a 22-year-old Mexican woman who managed to escape a trafficking scheme and asked to remain anonymous.
Marta received help from Carrillo and now works at a packing company in California.
"The salary gives you stability to pay rent, buy food and survive with dignity. This is very important to finish recovering and dream of a normal life again," she explains.
If you or someone you know needs help you can call the
National Human Trafficking Hotline
: 1-888-373-7888.
You can also text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733) or email help@humantraffickinghotline.org
If you or someone you know needs to report a possible case of human trafficking, you can call this number: 1-866-347-2423.
You can read more information about the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign and other anti-trafficking programs at
this link .