The issues surrounding human trafficking have been a priority for many administrations, including that of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.[1]  While human trafficking is frequently associated with sex trafficking, it also encompasses issues surrounding labor trafficking and involuntary servitude.[2]  In 2016, a global report revealed there were sixteen million victims of labor trafficking compared to 4.8 million victims of sex trafficking.[3]  In 2018, the National Human Trafficking Hotline reported that labor trafficking was the second-most common type of human trafficking reported in Maryland.[4]  Labor trafficking most commonly occurs through bonded labor or forced labor.[5]  Bonded labor involves debt bondage, while forced labor is based upon duress.[6]  Such duress may stem from a threat of harm, actual violence, or other means of coercion.[7]  Labor trafficking is frequently uncovered in sweatshops, domestic employment, custodial staff and commercial agricultural settings.[8]  Although undocumented immigrants are at a greater risk of falling victim to labor trafficking, any individual can ultimately become a victim.[9]

In response to labor trafficking concerns, Governor Hogan enacted the Anti-Exploitation Act of 2019.[10]  This act criminalizes taking or inducing another for the purpose of providing services or labor through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.[11]  It further criminalizes benefiting or profiting off of such services or labor.[12]  Before enacting this law, Maryland was one of only three states that had not criminalized labor trafficking.[13]  Since going into effect on October 1, 2019, it is unclear how law enforcement and relevant agencies have been enforcing the statute.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, certain industries have experienced a surge.[14]  Under Maryland’s stay-at-home order, agricultural businesses such as farms and food manufacturing and processing are classified as “essential” and thus exempt from mandatory closure.[15]  These are the some of the same industries where labor trafficking is prevalent.[16]  Crop farms are forced to continue production to meet consumer demand for produce while farmworkers work without the necessary precautions or sick leave.[17]  Not only are many hired crop farmworkers earning poor wages with minimal health precautions, but approximately half are immigrants without work authorization and are at a greater risk of becoming trafficked.[18]  Shortages of personal protective equipment and barriers to practicing social distancing create serious risks which could lead to production setbacks.[19]  How is Maryland enforcing its anti-labor trafficking law and protecting farmworkers who are fulfilling critical jobs?  This pandemic has reminded the public just how essential our agricultural workers are, and how they are deprived of their basic rights of safe working conditions, adequate pay, and documentation.

Paulina Taniewski is a third-year law student and Comments Editor of the University of Baltimore Law Forum. Currently, Paulina is an intern for the Honorable Paul W. Grimm in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Her interests include human rights law and public service and she looks forward to serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Daniel A. Friedman on the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland upon graduation.

[1] Human Trafficking, Governor’s Off. of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, http://goccp.maryland.gov/victims/rights-resources/human-trafficking/ (last visited Apr. 13, 2020).

[2] Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, 22 U.S.C. § 7101 (2020).

[3] Human Trafficking by the Numbers, Hum. Rts First, https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers (last visited Apr. 13, 2020).

[4] Maryland Spotlight: 2018 National Human Trafficking Hotline Statistics, The Nat’l Hum. Trafficking Hotline, https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/MD-2018-State-Report.pdf (last visited Apr. 2020).

[5] Labor Trafficking, Md. Hum. Trafficking Task Force, http://www.mdhumantrafficking.org/labortrafficking (last visited Apr. 13, 2020) [hereinafter Task Force].

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] S.B. 689, 2019 Leg., 439^th Sess. (Md. 2019).

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] Susan C. Lee, Wanika Fisher & Susan G. Esserman, Criminalize Human Trafficking in Maryland, Wash. Post: Loc. Opinions (Mar. 6, 2019), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/06/criminalize-human-trafficking-maryland/.

[14] Liz Crampton, Coronavirus has more Americans turning directly to farms for food, Politico (Mar. 31, 2020 01:45 PM), https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/31/coronavirus-demand-for-local-farms-157538; see also Lawrence J. Hogan, Jr., Ord. of the Governor of the St. of Md. Number 20-03-30-01 (Mar. 20, 2020), https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Gatherings-FOURTH-AMENDED-3.30.20.pdf.

[15] Office of Legal Counsel, Interpretive Guidance (Mar. 23, 2020), https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/OLC-Interpretive-Guidance-COVID19-04.pdf.

[16] Task Force, supra note 5.

[17] Miriam Jordan, Farmworkers, Mostly Undocumented, Become ‘Essential’ During Pandemic, N.Y. Times (Apr. 2, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/us/coronavirus-undocumented-immigrant-farmworkers-agriculture.html; see generally Jim Zarroli, U.S. Meat Supply is ‘Perilously Close’ To A Shortage, CEO Warns, NPR (Apr. 13, 2020), https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/13/833110486/u-s-meat-supply-is-perilously-close-to-a-shortage-ceo-warns. (A Smithfield Foods’ pork processing facility has permanently closed down in response to nearly 300 employees testing positive for COVID-19.).

[18] U.S. Dep’t of Agric. Econ. Res. Serv., Farm Labor: Legal Status and Migration Practices of Hired Crop Farmworkers, https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor/#legalstatus (last updated Apr. 22, 2020) (The number of H-2A visas requested and approved has increased by 500% in the last fourteen years, demonstrating that the United States is reliant on immigrant and migrant farmworkers to fulfill its needs. Employers in the H-2A visa program must demonstrate that “efforts to recruit U.S. workers were not successful.”); see also Jordan, supra note 17.

[19] Greg Asbed, What Happens if America’s 2.5 Million Farmworkers Get Sick?, N.Y. Times (Apr. 3, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/coronavirus-farm-workers.html.