Combatting Trafficking in Persons

June 15-19, 2025

After the program’s group city-split to Des Moines, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, they reconvened in San Antonio to further explore anti-human trafficking prevention and intervention. Additionally, the group of visitors took a day trip to Laredo, TX, to examine efforts to combat human trafficking in the context of one of the busiest land border crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Visitors from this multi-regional project included professionals from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Their visit was productive and insightful, thanks to the following people and organizations that our delegates met with during their time in San Antonio.

Our delegates met with the team from the South Texas Officers and Prosecutors (STOP) Task Force Against Human Trafficking to examine this multi-agency collaboration between the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), serving as the lead law enforcement agency, and BCFS Health and Human Services Human Trafficking Interdiction (HTI), serving as the lead victim services agency.  Representatives spoke on SAPD’s Special Victims and Sex Crimes Division, which is a specialized unit that focuses on investigating cases involving sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation. 

The visitors toured the San Antonio International Airport to learn about its strategies for combating human trafficking. They spoke with security personnel, airport administrators, and law enforcement representatives to discuss strategies for human trafficking detection and how the airport collaborates with various other state and federal law enforcement agencies. 

The group visited the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office to meet with District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who provided an overview of the office and its key initiatives, including efforts to combat human trafficking through the Bexar County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. DA Gonzalez also discussed how law enforcement and other regional partners are working together to investigate, arrest, and prosecute individuals involved in human trafficking in South Texas.

Representatives from Ransomed Life discussed the faith-based nonprofit’s efforts in child sex trafficking prevention, as well as its education and counseling services for survivors and their families.

During their day in Laredo, they met with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, Casa de Misericordia, and Texas A&M International University. The visitors first met with deputies from the Homeland Security Investigations, to highlight the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) international cooperation and multi-agency approach to transnational criminal organization investigations. After lunch, personnel from Casa de Misericordia spoke to the visitors about the shelter's services and programs for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. They discussed the toolkit the organization received from a team of researchers to better prepare to assist victims of sex and labor trafficking. To wrap up their day in Laredo, representatives from Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) met with the visitors to discuss TAMIU's research and academic initiatives related to combating human trafficking and homeland security.