Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Labor announce selection of Anti-Trafficking Coordination Teams

Washington - The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and Department of Labor announced the selection of Pilot Anti-Trafficking Coordination Teams (ACTeams) as part of a nationwide initiative to combat human trafficking. The initiative is designed to streamline federal criminal investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking offenses.

Phase I Pilot ACTeams will be based in Atlanta; El Paso, Texas; Memphis, Tenn; Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles and Miami, under the leadership of the U.S. Attorney and the highest-ranking federal investigative agents from the relevant regional U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Labor field offices.

The announcement follows the conclusion of a competitive, interagency selection process led by the Federal Enforcement Working Group, a collaboration of the Justice Department's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and FBI; Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit, and the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and Office of the Inspector General.

On Feb. 1, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis jointly announced the launch of the ACTeam initiative and the commencement of the competitive interagency selection process.

Each ACTeam, which is comprised of federal prosecutors and federal agents from multiple federal enforcement agencies, will implement a strategic action plan to combat identified human trafficking threats. The ACTeam will help protect the rights of human trafficking victims during federal criminal human trafficking investigations, bring traffickers to justice and dismantle human trafficking networks.