Press Releases 07
Ambassador Garza Congratulates Mexican Congress on Passage
of Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons
Statement by Ambassador Antonio O. Garza
Mexico City, October 3, 2007- “Yesterday the Mexican Congress
took a major step in fighting the scourge of human trafficking.
I congratulate the Congress for passing legislation that will
provide Mexico’s courts and police with the tools to prosecute
and punish those who would enslave or sexually exploit other
human beings through deception or force.
“Every day, all over the world, people are coerced into bonded
labor, bought and sold in prostitution, exploited in domestic
servitude, enslaved in agricultural work or factories, and
captured to serve unlawfully as child soldiers. Estimates
of the number vary widely. According to U.S. government estimates,
approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international
borders each year and about 80 percent of them are female.
Up to half are minors.
“The United States stands ready to cooperate with Mexico
in taking steps to put an end to these practices, in our own
lands and abroad. Trafficking is a global problem that tears
apart families and communities and tramples on human dignity.
By recognizing trafficking in persons as a crime, Mexico is
pushing this issue into the forefront and addressing these
forms of modern slavery head-on.” |
