Miami-Dade Awarded $450,000 from Justice Dept.

August 1, 2005

Miami-Dade Awarded $450,000 from Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON-Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) today announced that Miami-Dade County has been awarded $450,000 from the Department of Justice to better identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.

"Human trafficking is a terrible evil that is inexcusable and must be eradicated," Diaz-Balart said. "The United States care about people - their health, their lives, their opportunities - and we cannot tolerate such wickedness toward human beings. This award will help Miami-Dade County continue to be proactive in its efforts to prevent and prosecute human trafficking."

Miami-Dade County will develop a human trafficking task force to provide support for state and local law enforcement to work more collaboratively with victim services organizations, federal law enforcement, U.S. Attorneys Offices and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in the identification and rescue of human trafficking victims who are in the United States.

The primary goal of this program is to save more trafficking victims (by 15 percent each year) through: better training of law enforcement in trafficking victim identification and the development of proactive law enforcement tactics; the rescue of trafficking victims and provision of needed services in collaboration with trafficking victims service providers; and the successful prosecution of human traffickers in coordination with U.S. Attorneys Offices.

http://www.house.gov/mariodiaz-balart/news/2005news/080105_humantrafficking.htm