AG, Labor join to fight trafficking
Accord seeks to help federal agency report violations it encounters
Attorney General Hector Balderas on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Labor that officials said will help fight human trafficking in New Mexico.
Balderas said the goal of the effort is to open up communication between the agencies so labor officials have a better way to raise concerns about possible human trafficking they encounter during their investigations.
Balderas said motels, mas-
sage parlors and farms are some of the places where labor officials may come across suspicious activity when they are enforcing wage laws.
“A lot of times they are on the front line,” he said. “They interface with numerous types of employers at all levels.”
Balderas and Naixa Franquiz, the regional director of enforcement for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, signed the memorandum on Monday.
Officials at the state Attorney General’s Office believe that labor trafficking, which occurs when someone is forced or defrauded into working, happens much more often than is reported to law enforcement.
In addition to opening up lines of communication, the agreement calls for the two agencies to share training materials, information and coordinate investigations.
Franquiz said it is the first such agreement the wage division has signed.
“Our investigators, in their day-to-day activities, are in a good position to identify and refer human trafficking … to the Attorney General’s Office,” she said.