ICE Helps Round Up Sex Workers in Florida
A recent “human trafficking enforcement operation” in Polk County, Florida, led to 244 arrests—albeit none for human trafficking. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Polk County is far from alone in rounding up sex workers and their customers under the auspices of stopping human trafficking. And as is so frequently the case, the federal government had a hand in this operation, which authorities dubbed Fool Around and Find Out.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division were involved in Operation Fool Around and Find Out, along with more than a dozen Florida sheriff’s offices and police departments.
In addition to targeting adults for trying to consensually engage other adults in private sexual activity, immigration enforcement seems to have been a goal. A press release from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) notes that 36 of those arrested “are here illegally.”
The sheriff’s office also released photos of all of those arrested, with color-coded boxes around some arrestees to denote that they’re undocumented immigrants or receiving welfare benefits.
NFL Player Arrested, but No Human Traffickers
Among those arrested was former NFL player Adarius Taylor, a fact that has catapulted this story into national news. And that’s meant a whole lot of outlets playing right into the police’s preferred narrative.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has been pulling this trick year after year—arresting a bunch of sex workers and people looking to pay sex workers and then patting his team on the back for all of the “human trafficking” they allegedly stopped. A press release about Operation Fool Around and Find Out touts the arrest of “244 suspects during [a] nine-day human trafficking enforcement operation.”
In headlines—and, let’s be honest, that’s all many people will see—it sure sounds like the PCSO did some heroic work. But read beyond the headlines, and you’ll note that no one was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. Nor was anyone arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse of a minor, sexual assault, kidnapping, or any other charge that might indicate something other than consensual adult activity going on.
According to the sheriff’s office, the suspects were “involved in illegal acts related to soliciting prostitutes, offering to commit prostitution, or aiding/abetting or transporting prostitutes.”
This isn’t just a semantic difference; it’s the deliberate creation of a false narrative.
When people hear “human trafficking,” they imagine abductions, captivity, violence. Maybe the involvement of children. Maybe people being brought across borders. Not just one adult offering to pay another adult for sex or accepting payment for sex.
And, in fact, this is a distinction under Florida law, too. Human trafficking—a first-degree felony—is a distinct crime from the offenses of offering to commit prostitution, soliciting prostitution, transporting someone for prostitution, or otherwise aiding and abetting prostitution, all of which are misdemeanors upon a first offense. (Second or third offenses on the same charges can be felonies.) Human trafficking of an adult must involve some degree of coercion, whereas the other offenses do not.
93 Sex Workers, 141 Sex Buyers Arrested
In Operation Fool Around and Find Out, the vast majority of arrests were for prostitution or solicitation, with 93 people arrested for allegedly offering sex for a fee and 141 people arrested for allegedly agreeing to pay an undercover cop for sex. In addition, 10 people were arrested for driving someone suspected of the other crimes or facilitating them in some way.
The vast majority of the charges stemming from these arrests—284—were misdemeanors. In addition, 102 felonies were charged.
The inclusion of ICE and Homeland Security in this operation suggests that immigration enforcement was one goal. This is often a sneaky motive behind prostitution stings disguised as human trafficking operations.
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Article from Reason.com
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