Name: "MARIA"
Country of Origin: Mexico
Country of Destination: United States
Testimony provided by U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on International Relations Hearing on the Implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act November 28, 2001
My name is "Maria." I am in disguise today because I am in fear that my captors would recognize me and place my life and that of my family in danger.
My story begins in May of 1997 in Veracruz, Mexico when I was approached by an acquaintance about some jobs in the United States. She told me that there were jobs available in restaurants and that I would earn enough money to support my daughter and my parents in Mexico. I accepted the offer and a "coyote" brought me to Texas.
I was transported to Florida and there, one of the bosses told me I would be working in a brothel as a prostitute. I told him he was mistaken and that I was going to be working in a restaurant, not a brothel. He said I owed him a smuggling debt and the sooner I paid it off the sooner I could leave. I was eighteen years old and had never been far from home and had no money or way to return.
I was constantly guarded and abused. If any of the girls refused to be with a customer, we were beaten. If we adamantly refused, the bosses would show us a lesson by raping us brutally. We worked six days a week, twelve hours a day. Our bodies were sore and swollen. If anyone became pregnant we were forced to have abortions. The cost of the abortion was added to the smuggling debt.
The bosses carried weapons. They scared me. I never knew where I was. We were transported every fifteen days to different cities. I knew if I tried to escape I would not get far because everything was unfamiliar. The bosses said that if we escaped they would get their money from our families.
I was enslaved for several months; other women were enslaved for up to a year. Our enslavement finally ended when the INS, FBI, and local law enforcement raided the brothels and rescued us. From the moment I arrived to the United States I have gone through so much. After I was released from my captors, I cooperated with the government to send them to jail. Some of them are serving sentences in the United States but unfortunately others are free in Mexico threatening our families.
Meanwhile I continue to wait for my "S" visa and the one for my daughter. She will be six years old. I have not seen her since I left my country when she was only a year and half. I never thought this process would take so long. Seven of our captors were successfully prosecuted in 1999. 2001 is coming to its end and we are all waiting for a status that would allow us to remain safe in the United States and also to give us the opportunity to be reunited with our loved ones. My desire to see my daughter and the chance to give her a better life keep me going. But how long do we have to wait?
If I would have had the opportunity to apply for a "T" visa, I understand that the transition to the life I lead now in this country would have been significantly less burdensome. Once INS gave me work authorization, I went out looking for employment, without knowing the city, without speaking the language, without any guidance. My goal was to obtain honest employment immediately to send money to my parents for my daughter's upbringing. From that day I have not stopped. I continue to work for the same company that hired me when I was most desperate. I am learning English and I hold a position that demands responsibility.
But my story is not the story of most of the women and girls that were enslaved by the Cadena family. Most of the women are struggling to rebuild their lives. Some are mothers that do not count on any form of assistance with day care because of their present immigration status and that of their children. They do not have any special training that would help them obtain employment, employment that would provided for day care. Our temporary status needs to be renewed yearly. Most of us have not been able to reunite with our loved ones and worry for their safety.
I did not come to the United States to be a prostitute. I came to find a better future for my family. No woman or child would want to be a sex slave and endure the evil that I have gone through. The men we helped put in jail harmed us and possibly many others before us. Please help us and do not let this happen to anyone else. Thank you.
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