Human Trafficking Estimates from Eight Latin American Countries to U.S. Southwest Border

Department of Justice research provides a methodology and preliminary estimates for human trafficking into the United States. The project developed statistical models using open source data to estimate the number of males and females at risk and actually trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation from eight countries. It focuses on the transit journey from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela to the U.S. Southwest border.

Use Cases

• Apply the documented statistical models to estimate the number of males and females at risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation from the eight source countries.
• Utilize the modular estimation framework to incorporate new open source data on transit journey stages for updated trafficking flow calculations.
• Analyze gaps in data sources identified by the research to prioritize future data collection on labor exploitation victims.

Strengths

• Methodology is built exclusively on open source data, making the model accessible for replication and extension.
• Models are designed to be highly flexible and modular, allowing adaptation as the underlying data expands.
• Research provides a conceptual framework for identifying potential data sources at different trafficking stages.

Limitations

• Contains preliminary estimates intended to illustrate the methodology, not final or authoritative counts of trafficking victims.
• The model's accuracy is constrained by gaps and limitations in the available open source data inputs.
• Focus is limited to eight specific Latin American source countries and the U.S. Southwest border, not a global scope.

Provenance

Source

Department of Justice

Collection Method

Statistical modeling utilizing open source data.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Trafficking flows from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela to the United States Southwest border.