Corruption is a critical factor that facilitates human trafficking in the United States and globally, allowing perpetrators to operate with greater impunity

. Officials at various levels of government can be complicit in human trafficking crimes by accepting bribes, obstructing justice, or even directly engaging in exploitative schemes. 

How Corruption Fuels Human Trafficking in America

Corruption undermines the rule of law and obstructs efforts to combat human trafficking in several ways: 

• Facilitating Movement Corrupt officials, such as border guards, immigration personnel, or consular workers, may accept bribes to ignore illegal border crossings, provide false documentation (visas, passports), or allow traffickers to transport victims undetected.
• Enabling Exploitation Police or labor inspectors may be bribed to turn a blind eye to ongoing illicit activities in brothels, factories, farms, or private homes where victims are being exploited.
• Undermining Justice Corrupt actors within the criminal justice system, including judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement, can obstruct investigations, influence witnesses, tip off traffickers about impending raids, or interfere with prosecutions, ensuring perpetrators escape accountability.
• Controlling Victims Traffickers often use their connections to powerful or corrupt individuals as a method of control, making victims believe that seeking help from authorities is futile and may result in further harm or penalization.
• State-Sponsored Trafficking In some cases, government officials or entities may directly compel individuals into forced labor or sexual slavery as part of official policy or government-funded programs. U.S. law, specifically the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), requires an assessment of whether a government takes action against complicit officials. 

U.S. Government Response

The U.S. government views the nexus of human trafficking and corruption as a serious issue that compromises national security. The U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption explicitly highlights human traffickers as major beneficiaries of endemic corruption. 

Federal agencies like the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, working to dismantle the financial and systemic mechanisms that allow corruption to thrive. A key part of the strategy involves “following the financial trail” to disrupt illicit profits. 

How to Get Help or Report

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, or you have information about a potential situation, confidential help is available:

• National Human Trafficking Hotline: Call 1-888-373-7888, text 233733, or use the online tip form.
• Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tip Line:Call 1-866-347-2423 or submit a tip online at ice.gov/tips.
• FBI: Submit a tip through their website. 
• 
  Corruption is a critical factor that facilitates human trafficking in the United States and globally, allowing perpetrators to operate with greater impunity
  . Officials at various levels of government can be complicit in human trafficking crimes by accepting bribes, obstructing justice, or even directly engaging in exploitative schemes. 
  
  How Corruption Fuels Human Trafficking in America
  Corruption undermines the rule of law and obstructs efforts to combat human trafficking in several ways: 
  Facilitating Movement Corrupt officials, such as border guards, immigration personnel, or consular workers, may accept bribes to ignore illegal border crossings, provide false documentation (visas, passports), or allow traffickers to transport victims undetected.
  Enabling Exploitation Police or labor inspectors may be bribed to turn a blind eye to ongoing illicit activities in brothels, factories, farms, or private homes where victims are being exploited.
  Undermining Justice Corrupt actors within the criminal justice system, including judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement, can obstruct investigations, influence witnesses, tip off traffickers about impending raids, or interfere with prosecutions, ensuring perpetrators escape accountability.
  Controlling Victims Traffickers often use their connections to powerful or corrupt individuals as a method of control, making victims believe that seeking help from authorities is futile and may result in further harm or penalization.
  State-Sponsored Trafficking In some cases, government officials or entities may directly compel individuals into forced labor or sexual slavery as part of official policy or government-funded programs. U.S. law, specifically the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), requires an assessment of whether a government takes action against complicit officials. 
  
  U.S. Government Response
  The U.S. government views the nexus of human trafficking and corruption as a serious issue that compromises national security. The U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption explicitly highlights human traffickers as major beneficiaries of endemic corruption. 
  Federal agencies like the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, working to dismantle the financial and systemic mechanisms that allow corruption to thrive. A key part of the strategy involves “following the financial trail” to disrupt illicit profits. 
  
  How to Get Help or Report
  If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, or you have information about a potential situation, confidential help is available:
  National Human Trafficking Hotline: Call 1-888-373-7888, text 233733, or use the online tip form.
  Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tip Line: Call 1-866-347-2423 or submit a tip online at ice.gov/tips.
  FBI: Submit a tip through their website.