International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018 19
...
(3) by means of the abuse or threatened
abuse of law or legal process or
(4) by means of any scheme, plan, or
pattern intended to cause the person to
believe that, if that person did not
perform such labor or services, that
person or another person would suffer
serious harm or physical restraint. ...
276F
277
For instance, teachers who came from the
Philippines to work in the United States filed
actions against a teacher recruiting service
alleging fraud and violations of TVPA and other
criminal laws.
277F
278 Plaintiffs argued that they paid
steep recruitment fees in order to teach in the
United States and that they were induced by
fraud and verbal threats.
278F
279 The defendants
argued that the human trafficking statutes did
not apply to teachers, and, instead, were meant
only to apply to those in the sex trade or other
forms of nonprofessional labor.
279F
280 The court
disagreed.
280F
281 In relying upon the TVPA, the
court reasoned that the “TVPA not only protects
victims from the most heinous human trafficking
crimes, but also various additional types of fraud
and extortion leading to forced labor.”
281F
282
277 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1589 (2015). Furthermore, section 1589 (c)
(1) provides:
The term “abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal
process” means the use or threatened use of a law or legal
process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any
manner or for any purpose for which the law was not
designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to
cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking
some action.
The term “serious harm” means any harm, whether
physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial,
or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all
the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable
person of the same background and in the same
circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor
or services in order to avoid incurring that harm.
278 Nunag-Tanedo v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd, 790 F.
Supp. 2d 1134 (C.D. Cal. 2011).
279 Id. at 1143−44.
280 Id. at 1144.
281 Id. at 1146.
282 See id. at 1143 (holding that under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1589
plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that defendants violated the TVPA).
In another case, Menocal v. GEO Group, Inc.,
detainees at a for-profit immigration detention
facility brought an action against the facility for
their meager compensation in the Voluntary
Work Program.
282F
283 They were performing menial
jobs without compensation and were held under
threat of solitary confinement.
283F
284 Citing the
TVPA (among other statutes), the plaintiffs
alleged that by requiring them to perform
manual labor under threats, defendants
knowingly provided or obtained the “labor or
services of a person ...by means of force,
threats of force, physical restraint, or threats of
physical restraint.”
284F
285 Defendants argued that
the TVPA was intended to apply to trafficking
persons for labor and/or sex.
285F
286 In holding for
the plaintiffs, the court reasoned that the
language at issue under the TVPA is “broader
than the language at issue in Kozminski” and
other cases.
286F
287
In synthesizing case holdings, courts are
employing an expansive view of the rights of
victims under the TVPA to seek justice. The
evolving case law pertaining to the U.S. federal
trafficking statutes opens the door for potential
litigation strategy in cases seeking justice for the
ills of cults.
B. Cults Compared with Human Trafficking
Rings
Cultic organizations and trafficking rings have
much in common. Much like cult adherents,
trafficked victims are threatened by their
traffickers with serious consequences should
they escape and seek help.
287F
288 Not all trafficked
persons live in isolation,
288F
289 but, much like those
living under the undue influence exhibited in
cults, trafficked persons are fearful of reaching
out for help.
289F
290
283 Menocal v.GEO Group, Inc., 113 F. Supp. 3d 1125 (D. Colo.
July 6, 2015).
284 Id.
285 Id. at 1133 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1589 (a). Section 1595 provides
the civil remedy.).
286 Id. at 1132.
287 Id. at 1133.
288 HYLAND &SREEHARSHA, supra note 240, at 3.
289 Id.
290 Id.
...
(3) by means of the abuse or threatened
abuse of law or legal process or
(4) by means of any scheme, plan, or
pattern intended to cause the person to
believe that, if that person did not
perform such labor or services, that
person or another person would suffer
serious harm or physical restraint. ...
276F
277
For instance, teachers who came from the
Philippines to work in the United States filed
actions against a teacher recruiting service
alleging fraud and violations of TVPA and other
criminal laws.
277F
278 Plaintiffs argued that they paid
steep recruitment fees in order to teach in the
United States and that they were induced by
fraud and verbal threats.
278F
279 The defendants
argued that the human trafficking statutes did
not apply to teachers, and, instead, were meant
only to apply to those in the sex trade or other
forms of nonprofessional labor.
279F
280 The court
disagreed.
280F
281 In relying upon the TVPA, the
court reasoned that the “TVPA not only protects
victims from the most heinous human trafficking
crimes, but also various additional types of fraud
and extortion leading to forced labor.”
281F
282
277 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1589 (2015). Furthermore, section 1589 (c)
(1) provides:
The term “abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal
process” means the use or threatened use of a law or legal
process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any
manner or for any purpose for which the law was not
designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to
cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking
some action.
The term “serious harm” means any harm, whether
physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial,
or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all
the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable
person of the same background and in the same
circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor
or services in order to avoid incurring that harm.
278 Nunag-Tanedo v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd, 790 F.
Supp. 2d 1134 (C.D. Cal. 2011).
279 Id. at 1143−44.
280 Id. at 1144.
281 Id. at 1146.
282 See id. at 1143 (holding that under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1589
plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that defendants violated the TVPA).
In another case, Menocal v. GEO Group, Inc.,
detainees at a for-profit immigration detention
facility brought an action against the facility for
their meager compensation in the Voluntary
Work Program.
282F
283 They were performing menial
jobs without compensation and were held under
threat of solitary confinement.
283F
284 Citing the
TVPA (among other statutes), the plaintiffs
alleged that by requiring them to perform
manual labor under threats, defendants
knowingly provided or obtained the “labor or
services of a person ...by means of force,
threats of force, physical restraint, or threats of
physical restraint.”
284F
285 Defendants argued that
the TVPA was intended to apply to trafficking
persons for labor and/or sex.
285F
286 In holding for
the plaintiffs, the court reasoned that the
language at issue under the TVPA is “broader
than the language at issue in Kozminski” and
other cases.
286F
287
In synthesizing case holdings, courts are
employing an expansive view of the rights of
victims under the TVPA to seek justice. The
evolving case law pertaining to the U.S. federal
trafficking statutes opens the door for potential
litigation strategy in cases seeking justice for the
ills of cults.
B. Cults Compared with Human Trafficking
Rings
Cultic organizations and trafficking rings have
much in common. Much like cult adherents,
trafficked victims are threatened by their
traffickers with serious consequences should
they escape and seek help.
287F
288 Not all trafficked
persons live in isolation,
288F
289 but, much like those
living under the undue influence exhibited in
cults, trafficked persons are fearful of reaching
out for help.
289F
290
283 Menocal v.GEO Group, Inc., 113 F. Supp. 3d 1125 (D. Colo.
July 6, 2015).
284 Id.
285 Id. at 1133 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1589 (a). Section 1595 provides
the civil remedy.).
286 Id. at 1132.
287 Id. at 1133.
288 HYLAND &SREEHARSHA, supra note 240, at 3.
289 Id.
290 Id.
