Tag Archives: Lukeville

Heavy topic alert: human trafficking

Posted on by
32

After I filled the Bird Buddy AI bird feeder and birds were stopping by, these two hawks decided to hang out on our fence. All the other birds left immediately. (Photo has nothing to do with story except the hawks prey on weaker birds and animals than them.)

Yesterday, I attended a lunch with a women’s group I belong to. Our mission is to help victims of sex trafficking. We support the Phoenix Dream Center, a residential facility for victims that offers counseling, medical care, a safe place to live, ophthalmology, gardening, food, clothing and worship services if desired. They are changing their name to the Phoenix Dream Center Where Hope Lives. I’ve written about it HERE.

The guest speaker was from Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, named Nate Boulter. He works with the Dream Center along with other organizations including government, police departments to train and save the victims of human trafficking.

One organization he belongs to is called CEASE Arizona. From the AATN website about CEASE:

OUR MISSION

The mission of CEASE Arizona is to train and educate employees of Arizona cities and counties, including first responders (law enforcement and fire/EMTs), to recognize, report, and respond to incidents of human trafficking in their communities thereby disrupting demand for commercial sexual exploitation. CEASE stands for Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation.

https://aatn.org/cease-arizona/

Here’s a bio of our guest speaker from the AATN website:

NATE BOULTER

Program Director, Cities Engaged Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE)

Nate joined the AATN team in July 2022. Nate retired after over 22 years as a law enforcement professional, having reached the rank of Sergeant with the Mesa Police Department. During his career, Nate has worked in plain clothes and undercover assignments and has been involved in all levels of investigations in Gangs, Street Crimes, Drug Interdiction, Special Investigations, and Human Trafficking. He was an AZPOST Instructor, having amassed several thousands of hours of specialized instruction, and is a qualified and certified subject expert in the Arizona Court System in Drug Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Investigations.

As the Mesa HEaT (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) Sergeant, Nate successfully planned, carried out, and assisted in numerous major operations in Mesa and across the Valley to combat sex trafficking. He created and hosted training for undercover decoys across several Valley law enforcement agencies, and established a partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to better prosecute sex trafficking cases. He has worked to influence the revision of state statutes and city codes to better respond to the very real victimization of people in The Life.

Nate received numerous awards, citations, and commendations during his tenure at Mesa PD for his work keeping the community safe and “smashing bad guys!”

https://aatn.org/board/

I was seated at his table for lunch and asked him about our border crossing in Lukeville that is closed to legal crossers like myself to get to Puerto Penasco, our beach getaway, but has an influx of single men from throughout the world coming through.

He explained that it’s a staffing issue. Without the budget dollars being passed in DC to address our border issue, they can’t hire enough people. They have no idea if a position would be funded full time or for one month, so they are having a tough time filling positions. He also explained that Mexico has a zero immigration policy. They are bussing the immigrants to the border crossing to get them out of their country and into ours.

His words to describe the situation at the border: “It’s radical.”

Later in his talk to our group, he explained there is a difference between sex trafficking and human smuggling. Human smuggling is happening at our border. It’s a crime against our border, but it’s willful by those being smuggled. Sex trafficking is completely different and it’s a crime against a human being. Some of the people crossing the border may find themselves human trafficked at a later date, but that is a separate issue and crime.

According to Boutler most of the people sex trafficked are young girls from age 14 to 27. They are US citizens. Many are groomed online by someone they fall in love with, although some may be trafficked by family members. Like any abusive relationship, the victim believes things will change and that the trafficker loves her.

Boulter said “Nobody who loves you will sell you.”

One shocking statistic is the quota. A victim of sex trafficking may have a quota of $1,000 a day. Taking out days for illness, etc. one girl may make her trafficker $300,000 a year. If he has three girls, he’s making close to a million dollars a year.

The relationship is one of control. The trafficker controls what she wears, where she lives, when she can eat and he may dole out drugs to her. Her ID and credit card are in his possession and she’s been cut off from support of family and friends. Her phone will have an app on it where the trafficker can track her, listen to her calls and read her texts.

Boulter talked about “Force, Fraud and Coercion” which is used by the sex trafficker on the victim. He gave us things to look out for in public — like a huge age difference in a couple. Also, if the girl has her head down and cannot look the trafficker in the eyes. He also said parents need to take phones out of their kids rooms at night. Phones are the way most teens meet their sex trafficker.

He gave us a local number to call if we see something suspicious and said the best number to call is 911.

As parents how many of us were or are aware of what our children are doing on their phones?

Do you know if your area has a problem with sex trafficking?

Yet another reason to be grateful for the lives we have!

Run to the border over?

Posted on by
34
Beach resort at Sandy Beach Mexico
My favorite pool at Bella Sirena Resort in Mexico.

On our last trip to Mexico I wrote “Run for the Border.” You can read it HERE. There were two odd things that occurred on that long weekend that made me question our favorite vacation spot four hours south of home. First was getting pulled over by cops at the Mexican border town and being shaken down for $160.

But something else was odd. I noticed at least 1,000 military-aged men from all over the world, lined up on the Mexico side, waiting to walk into the United States. There were no women or children.

Then on the news yesterday in Arizona, we learned the border crossing at Lukeville is closed because the Border Patrol has such an influx of these military-aged men from Asia, Egypt and Africa to process — that they can no longer accommodate legal Americans or Mexicans crossing the border — either way.

Here’s a snippet from local Arizona news:

Lukeville border closed: How to get to Rocky Point and how much longer it will take

Michael Salerno

“It sucks.”

Esme Hernandez, a local business owner who enjoys traveling to the Mexican beach town of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, didn’t mince words in reaction to the closure of the Lukeville-Sonoyta port of entry.

That border crossing provides the most direct route between Phoenix and Puerto Peñasco.

“I just can’t imagine the effect it’s going to have on Rocky Point and the economy. They’re already in the slow season,” she said in a TikTok video and Instagram post about the border crossing’s temporary closure, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday, Dec. 1.

Why is the Lukeville border crossing closed?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the Lukeville port of entry on Monday, Dec. 4, citing an increase in migrants at the border and a need to assist U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody.

CBP did not say when the border crossing might reopen.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/2023/12/05/travel-to-rocky-point-lukeville-closed/71803351007/

With Lukeville closed, you have to drive to other border crossings that are not closed and are several hundreds miles away and are said to be more dangerous areas to travel. Rocky Point is 62 miles south of Lukeville. I hope this is temporary and for the sake of people who need to cross the border — and the economy of the beach resort — it reopens soon. Personally, I can skip the beach vacation, although it will hurt the Puerto Penasco economy.

We had a tenant in Phoenix who had open heart surgery and went on disability. He decided to move out of our rental unit and move into his mom’s house in Puerto Penasco where he could live for free. But he has continued his medical appointments in the US. He can no longer travel here.

Then, we met a restaurant owner in Puerto Penasco who said they bought most things to run their business like meat, liquor etc. in the US. They can’t get here, either.

The town of Rocky Point, also known as Puerto Penasco, will have no tourists. It’s a shrimp fishing village and a tourist town. The people are going to suffer economically.

The closest town to Lukeville on the US side is called Why. It was “Y” based on the road going from Tuscan to Phoenix and Mexico with a Y turn. Arizona decided all towns had to have three letters so now it’s called Why.

There’s a border station. It’s on the other side of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument a few miles from the border in Why. The monument is gorgeous and home to two species of indigenous cacti found nowhere else. The migrants are camped out there because there are facilities. Border Control in Why has all its cages full of migrant men. (Have you ever heard about this?)

The migrants camping out in the National Monument are burning the cacti to stay warm.

We stopped at a gas station in Why on our last trip home (Population 30?) There was a brand new gas station and a family running it. It was a husband and wife with a baby. They were excited to tell us of their plans for a coffee shop and restaurant and welcomed us to come back soon.

This is so wrong on so many levels.

I’m not sure if anyone out of the Phoenix area has heard about this.

Have you? If so, was it on local or national news? Why do you think young men by the thousands are traveling here without any women or children? What do you think could be done about the border being closed to Mexican and American citizens?

This is a banner photo from the National Monument website.