Combating Labor Trafficking At Home and Around the World

"January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a month when we turn special attention to raising awareness about human trafficking, but every day the Department of Labor is working to combat labor exploitation and human trafficking. 

Human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of someone to compel their labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud or coercion. If anyone under 18 is induced to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is force, fraud or coercion. 

In 2021, the department helped expose a trafficking case where more than 100 workers from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras were fraudulently brought to the U.S. through the H-2A agricultural work visa program. They were coerced into performing physically demanding work in Georgia, Florida and Texas, including being required to dig onions with their bare hands. Workers toiled for little or no pay – in some cases just 20 cents for each bucket harvested. Traffickers threatened the workers or their families with violence and deportation, forced the workers to pay illegal fees, and held them in cramped, unsanitary work camps. 

Traffickers exploit a worker’s vulnerabilities. Although anyone can be subjected to forced labor, some groups are at heightened risk, including foreign workers on temporary visas, people experiencing poverty and economic hardship, and undocumented workers, among others. 

These examples also illustrate many of the signs of trafficking: poor living conditions, debt owed to an employer or recruiter, a worker feeling pressure to stay in a work situation that they would like to leave, and more.

The Department of Labor, through our work to enforce federal labor laws such as minimum wage, overtime and workplace safety laws, is often the first law enforcement agency on a worksite and in a unique position to detect and refer instances of potential human trafficking.

Staff in the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are trained to look for indicators of trafficking and make referrals to other agencies. The Wage and Hour Division also calculates restitution for victims of trafficking when requested by the Department of Justice. The Department of Labor’s enforcement work is also a critical tool in addressing labor abuses and exploitation before the situation deteriorates into labor trafficking.

The Wage and Hour Division and OSHA also have tools to aid workers and strengthen our enforcement work, including completing U and T visa certifications for workers who have been victims of certain crimes, including trafficking.."
Human Trafficking 

Legal Reports (Publications of the Law Library of Congress)

"About this Collection

This collection features research reports and other publications on a wide range of legal topics prepared by the Law Library of Congress in response to requests or recurring interest from Congress and other federal government entities on issues concerning foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL).

In addition to current research products on FCIL topics, this collection includes historical legal reports that have been previously unavailable to the public. The reports contain comparative analysis of foreign and international law from the period of the 1940s to the present. These digitized and born-digital historical reports will be released in phases. The information provided reflects research undertaken as of the date of writing, which has not been updated unless specifically noted, but will nonetheless be of historical interest. In processing historical reports for publication, the Law Library has made a good-faith effort to ensure that only final versions of those reports are included in this collection.

Browse reports by topic, region, year of publication, or simply browse all the reports.."
Law Library of Congress 

2022 Economic Census First Look

"JAN. 25, 2024 – The U.S. Census Bureau today released new First Look estimates from the 2022 Economic Census. The economic census is the U.S. government’s official 5-year measure of employer businesses in the United States. It provides the most comprehensive business and economic data available at the national, state and local levels – and serves as the benchmark for current economic measures, such as the Gross Domestic Product and Producer Price Index.

“The 2022 Economic Census provides foundational information on the nation’s businesses and is a primary undertaking for the Census Bureau,” said Nick Orsini, associate director for Economic Programs. “For this cycle of the economic census, we combined years of experience conducting censuses with machine learning technology to create an adaptive collection instrument that helped respondents quickly and correctly identify their industry, products and services. The improved efficiencies this created in data collection resulted in more effective data review that directly contributed to our ability to produce these First Look estimates earlier than we have in the past.”

In 2022, the number of establishments with paid employees increased to just over 8.0 million, up from 7.6 million establishments in 2017 and 7.1 million establishments in 2012. These establishments employed 140.0 million employees with an annual payroll of $8.6 trillion dollars..."
2022 Economic Census 

Food Poisoning Symptoms

"You can get sick with food poisoning after swallowing certain germs, like Salmonella or E. coli. Your symptoms may vary, depending on the germ you swallowed. Symptoms can range from mild to serious and can last for a few hours or several days.

The most common symptoms of food poisoning are:

• Diarrhea
• Stomach pain or cramps
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever

If you have diarrhea or vomiting, be sure to drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration (not having enough water in your body).

Should I See a Doctor for Food Poisoning?

See a doctor if you have any symptoms that are severe, including:

• Bloody diarrhea
• Diarrhea that lasts more than 3 days
• High fever (temperature over 102°F)
• Vomiting so often that you cannot keep liquids down
• Signs of dehydration, which include not urinating (peeing) much, a dry mouth and throat, feeling dizzy when standing up

See your doctor if you are pregnant and have a fever and other flu-like symptoms. Some mild infections can cause problems with pregnancy..."
Food Poisoning 

Influneza

"What You Should Know About Flu Antiviral Drugs

 Can flu be treated?

Yes. There are prescription medications called “antiviral drugs” that can be used to treat flu illness. CDC recommends prompt antiviral treatment for people who have flu or suspected flu and who are at higher risk of serious flu complications, such as people with asthma, diabetes (including gestational diabetes), or heart disease.

What are flu antiviral drugs?

Flu antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid, an inhaled powder, or an intravenous solution) that fight against flu viruses in your respiratory tract.  Antiviral drugs are not sold over the counter. You can only get them if you have a prescription from a health care provider. Antiviral drugs are different from antibiotics, which fight against bacterial infections. Antiviral drugs for flu only work to treat flu. Flu antiviral drugs are different than antiviral drugs used to treat other infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Antiviral drugs prescribed to treat COVID-19 are not approved or authorized to treat flu illness.

What should I do if I think I am sick with flu illness?

If you get sick with flu illness, antiviral drugs are a treatment option. Check with your doctor promptly if you are at higher risk of serious flu complications (full list of higher risk factors) and you develop flu symptoms. Flu signs and symptoms can include feeling feverish or having a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Usually, flu signs and symptoms start abruptly all at once and not gradually. However, not everyone with the flu has a fever. Your doctor may prescribe antiviral drugs to treat your flu illness.

Should I still get a flu vaccine?

Yes. Antiviral drugs are not a substitute for getting a flu vaccine. While flu vaccine can vary in how well it works, a flu vaccine is best way to help prevent seasonal flu illness and its potentially serious complications. Everyone 6 months and older should receive a flu vaccine every year. Antiviral drugs are a second line of defense that can be used to treat flu illness (including seasonal flu and variant flu viruses) if you get sick..."
Influenza 

RSV-NET

"Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET) collects data on laboratory-confirmed RSV-associated hospitalizations, including those resulting in ICU admission or death, among children and adults.

RSV-NET Interactive Dashboard

RSV-NET Overview & Methods.."

RSV 

Abolishing a Federal Agency: The Interstate Commerce Commission

"Congress has, from time to time, enacted legislation to discontinue a federal agency and either redistribute or discontinue its functions. Abolishment of an agency or its functions has often been politically challenging because of the potential impact on stakeholders with competing interests. Frequently, it has also been administratively complex, involving myriad decisions about policies and the distribution of functions and resources during the winding down of the abolished agency.

This report takes a closer look at the abolishment of one particular agency—the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)— and most of its functions. It reviews, in historical context, the ICC’s establishment, growth, decline, and elimination.

During the mid-1800s, railroads became key for rural growers, mining companies, and others to transport goods to urban centers. The nature of rail transportation and national and state government policies led to powerful railroad companies that were monopolistic in some geographic areas and ruinously hypercompetitive in others. Responding to public opinion and stakeholder advocacy, Congress established the ICC to defend the public from these practices, primarily through adjudication of grievances.

Although some considered the newly established ICC to be relatively weak and ineffective, Congress greatly expanded the ICC’s authority and responsibilities during the first part of the 20th century. World War I led the federal government to take control of the railroads. Following the war, the railroads were returned to private control. Rather than returning to its pre-war role as a regulator of privately owned and operated railroads, however, the ICC was charged with broader responsibilities in managing the industry in the context of U.S. commerce. The railroad industry was weakened by the Great Depression and increasing competition from other transportation modes—particularly trucking. These challenges led Congress to further adjust the ICC’s role from protecting those  served by powerful railroad companies to managing the economics of the transportation sector in the public interest..."
Abolish a Federal Agency

FTC Issues Biennial Report to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry

"The Federal Trade Commission issued its biennial report to Congress on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry that shows the number of consumers who have placed their telephone numbers on the Registry over the past two years has reached more than 249 million.

The report also notes that the FTC has received more than two million Do Not Call complaints in fiscal year (FY) 2023 with people overwhelmingly reporting these violations came via robocalls, as opposed to live telemarketing.

Imposter scam, medical needs and prescription scam calls led the list of commonly reported call topics in FY 2023, followed by calls related to reducing debt and energy, solar, and utilities. In response to the consistently high number of complaints from the public about impersonator scams, the FTC recently continued its rulemaking initiative to combat business and government impersonation fraud. A data spotlight issued in June 2023 found that bogus bank fraud warnings were the most common form of text message scam reported to the agency, and that many of the most common text scams impersonate well-known businesses..."
Do Not Call Registry 

Disqualification of a Candidate for the Presidency, Part II: Examining Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment as It Applies to Ballot Access

"Numerous lawsuits across the country have sought or are seeking to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on state ballots for the upcoming presidential elections. In particular, these suits, filed in both state and federal courts, are requesting that various secretaries of state exclude the former President from the states’ ballots for the upcoming presidential primary and general elections. Plaintiffs allege that Trump’s efforts to impede the congressional certification of the 2020 electoral college vote by, among other things, urging his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, amount to “engag[ing] in insurrection” within the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs contend that the former President is therefore disqualified as a candidate for the presidency. Many of the lawsuits challenging Trump’s ability to be placed on state ballots have been dismissed by courts on jurisdictional grounds without reaching the merits of the constitutional claims.

On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court became the first court to hold that former President Trump is ineligible to appear on the ballot because he is constitutionally disqualified from holding the office of the President, and the court directed the Colorado secretary of state to exclude the former President’s name from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot. That decision has been stayed until January 4, potentially enabling Trump the opportunity to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court before it goes into effect. (As of the date of this Sidebar, the Colorado Republican State Central Committee has reportedlyfiled a petition of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the state court ruling.)

This Legal Sidebar is Part 2 in a two-part series examining how Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment applies to ballot access by a presidential candidate. It discusses the eligibility requirements for a candidate to be placed on the ballot for the presidency and the application of Section 3 to the 2024 presidential elections. Part 1 focuses on the meaning of Section 3 as it applies to the presidency, including a discussion of the recent case disqualifying Trump from the ballot in Colorado, Anderson v. Griswold. For further background on Section 3, including whether it requires implementing legislation from Congress to take effect, see this Legal Sidebar and this Legal Sidebar.."
Presidency disqualification 

Oversight Democrats Release Report Proving Trump Pocketed Millions From At Least 20 Foreign Governments As President

"Washington, D.C. (January 4, 2024)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, released a new staff report and new documents produced by Donald Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars USA LLC, establishing that while former President Trump was in office, he received at least $7.8 million from 20 governments, including the governments of China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Malaysia, through his businesses.  This staggering figure reflects payments to just four of the more than 500 entities Trump owned while he was in office: Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, and Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York.

Immediately after taking over as Oversight Committee Chairman in January 2023, Rep. James Comer allowed former President Trump’s attorneys to speak on behalf of the Committee and bury evidence by stopping the production of additional responsive records.  As a result, the $7.8 million detailed in this report, based on records for just two years of his presidency, involving four of his more than 500 businesses, is likely just a small fraction of the payments former President Trump received from foreign governments while in office, in violation of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause..."
Trump Pocketed Millions

Census Bureau Projects U.S. and World Populations on New Year’s Day

"As the nation rang in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau projected the U.S. population will be 335,893,238 at midnight EST, on Jan. 1, 2024. This represents an increase of 1,759,535 (0.53%) from Jan. 1, 2023, and 4,443,957 (1.34%) from Census Day (April 1) 2020.

In January 2024, the United States is expected to experience one birth every 9.0 seconds and one death every 9.5 seconds. Meanwhile, net international migration is expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 28.3 seconds. The combination of births, deaths and net international migration increases the U.S. population by one person every 24.2 seconds.

The projected world population on Jan.1, 2024, is 8,019,876,189, an increase of 75,162,541 (0.95%) from New Year’s Day 2023. During January 2024, 4.3 births and 2.0 deaths are expected worldwide every second.

The Census Bureau’s Population Clock displays simulated real-time growth of the U.S. and world populations.."
Population Estimates