The border town of Laredo, Texas, was the site of a major training event for Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials hoping to stop human trafficking and child abductions. On July 9 and 10, 2013, more than 70 local, state, and federal law enforcement and victim advocate representatives from U.S. and Mexico met to discuss efforts to protect children.
The agenda included discussions about efforts in Mexico to find missing and abducted children, border security and human trafficking and an exercise involving the recovery of an abducted child.
“All participants cited the need for continued collaboration and the value of actually working closely with their counterpart from the neighboring country,” said Phil Keith, Program Director of the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program.
The training was part of the Southern Border Initiative, a U.S. Department of Justice program aimed at stopping child abductions, child exploitation and trafficking on the southern border of the U.S.
“The reality is the majority of juveniles who are trafficked in the U.S. are trafficked domestically,” said Jim Walters, Southern Border AMBER Alert Liaison. “They are U.S. citizens or have dual citizenship in Mexico. Somebody lures them in or forces them into being exploited.”
Mexico has launched an AMBER Alert program similar to the U.S. system and is now using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to increase the number of people looking for an abducted child.
“The participants worked well and identified strengths and weaknesses on both sides,” concluded Keith.