Maps and Case Law
Maps and Case Law
Select each topic for more information.
Routes and Patterns of Foreign National Human Trafficking from Southern Border of the U.S.
If the map animation isn't playing, select the play button.
This map shows some of the documented routes and patterns used by human traffickers. It is based on federal criminal and administrative case law.
Green lines represent foreign national sex trafficking cases prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice in federal court.
Blue lines indicate foreign national labor trafficking cases investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, particularly those involving child exploitation and child labor.
Black dotted and dashed lines mark the activity of three major foreign national gangs - now classified as foreign terrorist organizations - that are known to be involved in human trafficking.
- Note: These lines reflect only known routes and patterns, as identified through federal case law and FBI gang intelligence reports.
The red line represents the Cadena ring, a Mexican human trafficking ring in which hundreds of women and children, some as young as 13 years old, were trafficked from Mexico to the U.S. This line is one detailed example of the many sex trafficking cases, each with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of victims.
The yellow line represents the Packers Sanitation Service Inc. (PSSI) case. PSSI exploited over 100 foreign national children - ages 13 to 17 years of age. The children were illegally employed in hazardous jobs in food sanitation services. They were working overnight shifts at 14 meat processing facilities in 8 states. In the child labor cases, the children were trafficked into the U.S. from Mexico and Central America and in many cases were in debt bondage to their traffickers and "sponsors." This line is one detailed example of the many labor trafficking cases each with dozens, sometimes hundreds of victims.
U.S. intelligence sources confirm that MS-13 is operating in 46 states in the U.S.; Tren de Aragua is operating in at least 16 states in the U.S.; and Cartel del Noreste (formerly known as Los Zetas), its most formidable faction, has long controlled the US-Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo and the north part of Nuevo León and as far south as Monterrey.
If the map animation isn't playing, select the play button.
The 5,500-mile U.S.-Canada border is the longest land border in the world, with much of it wilderness. While illegal crossings are less common than at the U.S.-Mexico border, the sheer size and sparse patrol presence of the northern border make it vulnerable.
Consider the dozens of known paths of travel in which illegal crossings of the U.S. northern border feed into trafficking cases involving thousands of victims across the United States.
*In cases involving the northern border, the “endpoints” of many of these trafficking paths are not always clear, which is why the arrows fade across the map.
Due to different U.S. and Canadian laws on Indian reservations that straddle the U.S. and Canadian border, the reservations are the target of human traffickers and human smugglers because the jurisdictional issues create enforcement grey areas.
The wild nature of the vast U.S.-Canada border lends itself to illegal border crossings by land and over water. Coordinated efforts by smugglers have established several areas along the border where these crossings are concentrated.
Select a few of the highlighted areas to learn more.
