Pappas Combats Human Trafficking, Bolsters Law Enforcement Training

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In an ongoing effort to combat human trafficking, state Rep. Diane Pappas, D-Itasca, supported a new law to enforce tougher penalties on those benefiting from the practice and increasing education for hotel workers and law enforcement professionals to identify it.

“We have to end human trafficking,” Pappas said. “It is a terrible crime that forces people into years of servitude; trapped by threats of violence against them and their families. There are numerous criminals guilty of benefitting from the practice, not just those who directly keep people in captivity, but businesses who profit by turning a blind eye while human beings are trafficked on their property.”

Pappas helped pass Senate Bill 1890, which is now law. The law creates a training program for all law enforcement agencies in Illinois to ensure they are ready to recognize and fight the problem. It also extends the statute of limitations for adult human trafficking to 25 years, and establishes penalties of up to $100,000 for any businesses that benefit from human trafficking or other types of involuntary servitude.

Pappas’ measure also creates the Lodging Establishment Human Trafficking Recognition Training Act, which requires hotel owners hold regular trainings for employees to recognize signs of human trafficking.

Since 2007, 4,578 incidents of human trafficking have been reported in Illinois, with likely tens of thousands more occurrences that did not reach the authorities. The Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research compiled a comprehensive report on human trafficking across the country and concluded that the hospitality industry was one of the largest employers of victims of human trafficking. A 2018 Illinois government task force on the subject also identified education programs for law enforcement and hotel workers as critical steps in ending this problem.

“This new law will combat human trafficking not just by increasing punishments for the criminals involved, but by educating people in positions to prevent it from continuing,” Pappas said. “By giving law enforcement professionals the tools and training to pursue these criminals, people can be saved from being forced into modern day slavery.”