New Kansas anti-human trafficking law is not too broad. It will save vulnerable lives | Opinion

You’ve undoubtedly heard the criticisms against the Kansas Legislature’s Crime of Human Smuggling bill, H.B. 2350, which passed last session and took effect this July. You’ve likely also heard Gov. Laura Kelly’s statement that “bill will have unintended consequences, from decimating our agriculture workforce to allowing the state to encroach into Kansans’ personal lives.”

The question remains whether the governor was saying undocumented individuals are overwhelmingly suited for agriculture work, or that our state’s agricultural businesses knowingly hire people being exploited. Either way, she and the groups pushing false, fear-based narratives about H.B. 2350 must not understand its carefully designed burden-of-proof barriers. Otherwise, why would they perpetuate ignorance of this new law?

The truth is, Kansans have been outright misled about whom H.B. 2350 is intended to target, how it’s enforced and our growing need for anti-human smuggling legislation. Until now, human smuggling wasn’t a crime in Kansas. Law enforcement requested the Legislature close this loophole to help fight human trafficking. While Gov. Kelly claims H.B. 2350 was “the product of a rushed process,” nothing could be further from the truth. Kansas law enforcement has battled human smuggling for decades.

Smugglers take advantage and profit off others’ desperation by promising passage from a bad situation. Instead of opportunity, their victims are delivered into the indentured servitude of labor or sex trafficking. This is precisely why H.B. 2350 doesn’t pertain to the victims, but targets the smuggler who “knows, or should have known, that the individual is entering into or remaining in the United States illegally; benefits financially or receives anything of value; and knows, or should have known, that the individual being smuggled is likely to be exploited for the financial gain of another.” All barriers must apply for a crime to be committed.

Opponents assert an unsuspecting Uber driver, church bus driver or community outreach worker could be arrested for human smuggling under H.B. 2350 because the term “anything of value” is too broad. That narrative conveniently ignores the barrier of knowing that the person you are transporting or harboring is being exploited for the personal gain of another. This bipartisan-crafted barrier protects those giving an innocent ride or shelter to someone seeking help within their community, and the law couldn’t be clearer.

Another misrepresentation claims H.B. 2350 will lead to racial profiling by law enforcement. This divisive rhetoric is a dangerous pot to stir. Do those parroting this narrative also believe only one race is responsible for smuggling humans for exploitation, or that only one race is smuggled for exploitation? Our law enforcement officers represent every race across our state, and H.B. 2350 was a collaborative effort by multiple county sheriffs’ departments, police departments, county attorneys, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the attorney general’s office, Homeland Security, associations of police/sheriffs/district attorneys, human trafficking boards, U.S. representatives and nonprofit organizations across Kansas and the U.S. The idea that the professionals in these organizations are overwhelmingly racist and represent only one demographic is absurd.

H.B. 2350 has already proven necessary and effective. In August, two suspected traffickers in Finney County were arrested after deputies were called to a residence for a landlord-tenant dispute. They found immigrant workers from multiple countries, housed in unsanitary conditions and not receiving proper compensation for their work. Upon multiple search warrants executed based on H.B. 2350, investigators uncovered multiple properties in which dozens of immigrants, including children, were housed and exploited in similar conditions.

Human smuggling victims are treated as property. People of every race, gender and age are smuggled into the lucrative business of human trafficking. They’re forced into labor and sex work as payment to those they trusted. I’m proud of the work our legislature and law enforcement did to enact this law and hold human smugglers accountable. All people deserve to be treated with basic human dignity, and those who knowingly exploit their fellow man will find no safe harbor within Kansas.

This story was originally published September 25, 2023 at 5:02 AM.