Havana - The Cuban government rejected Tuesday as “false and disrespectful” the U.S. State Department report on human trafficking and denied any trafficking of minors, as stated in the document.

The 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, presented Monday in Washington, listed Cuba among countries that fail to meet minimum international standards in battling human trafficking, and said that sexual exploitation of minors is common on the communist-ruled island.

“This shameful slander deeply offends the Cuban people. Sexual trafficking of minors does not exist in Cuba, but rather there is an exemplary record of protecting children, young people and women,” according to Josefina Vidal, head of the North America desk in the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

In a statement sent to the media, Vidal said that Cuba does not figure, “either as a country of origin, or of transit, or as a final destination for this scourge.”

She said that the legislation and measures adopted against that crime place Cuba among the countries of the region with the “most progressive” regulations and mechanisms to prevent and combat human trafficking.

The State Department report, she said, “can only be explained by the desperate need the U.S. government has to justify, under any pretext whatsoever, the persistence of its cruel policy of (economic) embargo, rejected overwhelmingly by the international community.”

[Albany] Only the quiet sound of shackles could be heard as Victor Orozco, 24, made his way into the courtroom. His fate resting in the hands of Judge Jonathan Nichols.

"The nature and extent of your crime against the victim and her family is probably one of the worst crimes in terms of victim impact that i've had to preside over," said Judge Nichols.

Orozco pled guilty to the rape of a Stockport woman back in January. Even more shocking -- the victim's two young children were forced to watch.

"He duct taped them, told her to make them stop screaming or he would kill her in front of her kids," said Columbia County District Attorney Beth Cozzolino.

The victim, who we couldn't show on camera, spoke to the judge through tears, saying "He destroyed my life and my children's lives."

"They will be forever traumatize by this. They can't go to the bathroom. They're afraid to fall asleep at night. They're afraid to go home," said Cozzolino.

Orozco waived his right to a hearing, and thus a trial. His attorney asked that to be taken into consideration during sentencing.

But the judge's concern was for the victim, handing down 25 years in prison.

"I'm really pleased the judge gave him the maximum sentence," Cozzolino says. "There really is no other sentence you could give an animal like this."

"He didn't know why he did it. He's sorry he did it. He wishes he could take it back," says defense attorney Michael Howard. "But that's obviously after the fact."

Now, Columbia County District attorney Beth Cozzolino says the victim is going to focus on moving forward.

"She's back to work," Cozzolino says. "Her kids are back to school and I'm hoping that they recover from this."

A 30-year-old Hazleton man is in Luzerne County prison on multiple felony sex charges involving a 15-year-old girl.

Hazleton detectives escorted Angel C. Solano-Martinez, West Hemlock Street, into District Judge Joseph Zola's office Wednesday night to be arraigned on five felony charges including deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, dissemination of explicit sexual material and criminal contact with a minor. He also faces two misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors.

According to the police criminal complaint, the female juvenile's family called Luzerne County Children and Youth after they recognized Solano-Martinez in a photograph on the front page of the June 10 edition of the Standard-Speaker. The photo appeared with a story about drug arrests made by federal agents in Hazleton.

Solano-Martinez was one of more than a dozen alleged drug dealers from Hazleton arrested in the raid. All of the alleged dealers were named in a one-count indictment that said they conspired to sell more than 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds, of cocaine, and 50 grams of crack. They each pleaded not guilty.

Solano-Martinez was free on federal bail Wednesday when city detectives escorted him to district court on the sex crime charges.

According to the criminal complaint, Solano-Martinez met the 15-year-old girl at the Pine Street Playground in November 2009.

From the playground, Solano-Martinez invited the girl to a local motel where he gave her ecstasy pills and marijuana, court papers said. From November to his arrest last week on federal drug charges, Solano-Martinez had a sexual relationship with the girl that included watching pornographic movies at his house and having unprotected sexual intercourse, sometimes multiple times a day, police said.

The girl told police that Solano-Martinez was aware that she was only 15.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl told police that Solano-Martinez also supplied her with crack cocaine, smoked it with her, and often had her deliver drugs to customers when he was "too tired or too busy to deliver himself."

Police said Solano-Martinez "walked into Hazleton City Hall to deliver a message to" the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on Wednesday. The man was questioned by police on the sexual allegations and taken into custody.

Dressed in blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt with shackles on his ankles and wrist cuffs attached to a leather restraint around his waist, Solano-Martinez wore a surgical-type mask over his mouth and nose as he sat quietly before Zola at district court. He answered the judge's questions with single-word answers spoken in a quiet tone of voice.

Zola set bail at $100,000 straight cash, which Solano-Martinez was unable to post. He was remanded to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in lieu of bail. Zola scheduled a preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

ALSACE Township - A man accused of helping to carjack and rape a Berks County woman has been captured in Puerto Rico where he awaits extradition, the state police at the Reading barracks announced Wednesday.

Authorities in the U.S. territory took Raymond Cosme-Gomez, 21, last known address in Reading, Pa., into custody Tuesday, the state police said.

Cosme-Gomez is accussed of participating in the carjacking and rape of a 22-year-old woman at 12:40 a.m. Oct. 18, 2008, on Pricetown Road in Alsace.

According to police, the accused and two other Hispanic men came up to the woman who was in her car and would not allow her to get out of her vehicle in the 2800 block. The men "grabbed her by her hair and demanded that she give them all of her money," police said. The men took $40 from the victim's back pocket and the woman's cell phone, police said.

Keeping the woman in the car, the three men drove it to a secluded area on the same road about two miles from where they first came upon the woman, police said. The men proceeded to beat the woman and rape her, police said.

The assailants left the woman at the rape scene and took off with her car and cell phone, police said.

The stolen vehicle was later found burning in the 900 block of North Sixth Street in Reading about 2 a.m. the same day, police said.

The ensuing investigation, including an examination of DNA, lead police to Cosme-Gomez, who fled the country to Puerto Rico in 2009, police said. With the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Puerto Rican officials, a search warrant was issued and Cosme-Gomez was found and investigated before being arrested June 15, 2010, for his alleged part in the crime, police said.

Cosme-Gomez is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania where he will be tried, police said. Police said expect to have a second suspect under arrest soon.

Under Secretary Otero: …The announcement of the 2010 TIP Report is not only the result of many months of hard work, from offices - from our embassies and analysts and the Human Rights Trafficking Person - and the Human Trafficking Person, but also the community of NGOs - many of whom who are here - and activists who have dedicated their lives' work to combat this terrible scourge. Today, we come together to recognize over one decade of work…

The TIP report is a fair and transparent diagnosis of the impact of human trafficking, and it offers an assessment of how we can partner to end this human rights abuse, because human trafficking cuts across policies and sectors. We are challenged to gather our resources and increase our capacity to fight this crime together…

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …I want to thank Under Secretary Maria Otero for her leadership on this and so many other pressing global challenges. I want to thank our own hero, Ambassador Lou CdeBaca, and all the men and women here at the State Department. They are working literally around the clock to shine the brightest of all spotlights on the scourge of modern slavery. Lou and his team work very closely with Melanne Verveer, our first ever ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues. Because human trafficking not only exploits and victimizes women and girls; it also fuels the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world. So thank you, one and all…

Human trafficking crosses cultures and continents. I've met survivors of trafficking and their families, along with brave men and women in both the public and the private sector who have stood up against this terrible crime. All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end. Survivors must be supported and their families aided and comforted, but we cannot turn our responsibility for doing that over to nongovernmental organizations or the faith community. Traffickers must be brought to justice. And we can't just blame international organized crime and rely on law enforcement to pursue them. It is everyone's responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains, governments that turn a blind eye or do not devote serious resources to addressing the problem, all of us have to speak out and act forcefully…

Ambassador Luis CdeBaca: …Ten years ago, the law caught up with what so many people in this room knew - what you knew, what you cared about long before this was a hot issue. The injustice, though, was still as great. So we honor your leadership from within government and civil society. On shoestring budgets and with incomparable resolve, you had the courage to identify weaknesses and victims, to build shelters and best practices, and to trust and support survivors. We hope to use the same courage, the same strength, and the same tenacity as we celebrate 10 years of progress, but also 10 years of learning…

Laura Germino is going to give a few remarks on behalf of the heroes [recognized here] today, but in the introduction of Laura, we talk about a multi-sectoral approach, tapping NGOs, law enforcement, labor inspectors and the survivors, themselves. And the pioneer of that approach here in the United States is Laura Germino. In the early 1990s, Laura began to not just give a voice to escaped slaves, but traveled to Washington on her own dime to hold the federal government accountable to - investigate and prosecute these cases. And when I say federal government, I mean me -and I think Leon Rodriguez…

Laura Germino: …Twenty years ago - we're turning the clock back - there was no State Department TIP Report. There was no Justice Department Anti-Trafficking Unit. There was no Trafficking Victims Protection Act, no freedom network of NGOs. Farm workers like Julia Gabriel and thousands of others had not yet escaped to freedom. Farm bosses like Ron Evans or Sebastian Gomez and a dozen others had not been brought to justice. There was no admission yet by this great nation that the unbroken threat of slavery that has so tragically woven through our history, taking on different patterns, but always weaving the horrendous depravation of liberty - that it was a constant.

But here's the good part: There was nowhere to go but up. What we found is the mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. I have to say at times those mills ground really slowly. But change can and does come. Twenty years later, we see those changes, and you don't have to take my word for it. You can ask Ambassador CdeBaca.

Fifteen years ago, Ambassador CdeBaca was a young prosecutor… sitting in our office in Immokalee… puzzling about how to bring a violent, armed boss who was holding more than 400 farm workers, to justice. Our work together on that case eventually put that employer, Miguel Flores, behind bars for 15 years hard time. And as Ambassador CdeBaca was saying - (applause) - that prosecution helped lay the groundwork for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act…

Colombia is the only country in Latin America that according to the U.S. government's Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 meets the minimal international standards to fight human trafficking. However, the country remains a major source for the forced prostitution of women and girls abroad.

According to the report, Colombian male and female human trafficking victims are forced to work in sweat shops in Latin America, while Colombian women are forced to prostitute themselves in "Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Asia, and North America, including the United States."

"During the reporting period, the government increased law enforcement actions against trafficking offenders, enhanced prevention efforts, and continued to offer victim services through an interagency trafficking operations center and through partnerships with NGOs and international organizations. The significant number of Colombians trafficked abroad, however, reflects the need for increased prevention efforts and victim services," the State Department report went on.

The reports qualifies Colombia as one of the top "Tier 1" countries that comply with regulations.

Despite its praise, Washington advises Colombia to "dedicate more resources for victim services provided directly by the government; increase efforts to encourage victims to assist with the prosecution of their traffickers; enhance efforts to assist and repatriate the large number of Colombians trafficked overseas; institute formal measures to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations; and continue to raise public awareness about the dangers of human trafficking, particularly among young women seeking jobs abroad."

The U.S. warns Latin American countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic they may face sanctions if they don't improve efforts to fight human trafficking.

Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala are on a "watch list" and are expected to do more against the trafficking of humans.

According to Washington, the U.S. itself faces a "serious" human trafficking problem.

Washington - There are thousands of modern-day "slaves" in America - girls and boys forced into the sex trade, and men and women held in debt bondage, Secretary of State Clinton said Monday.

"There are Americans, unfortunately, who are held in sexual slavery," Clinton said in releasing the State Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons" report that for the first time included the U.S. on the list of suspect nations.

The trafficking horror outlined by Clinton has for years been the focus of law enforcement in New York City, where police have waged an uphill battle against pimps and predators using massage parlors and strip joints as fronts to prey on young Americans and illegal immigrants.

Last month, Mayor Bloomberg launched a public education campaign on human trafficking with ads on bus shelters in all five boroughs to "raise awareness of the impact of this horrible crime."

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes last week created a sex trafficking unit, and last December Queens District Attorney Richard Brown notched the first conviction under New York State's anti-trafficking law.

In the State Department report on 177 nations, the U.S. was singled out as "source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, debt bondage and forced prostitution."

Thailand, Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and India were listed among the main source countries for forced labor.

The U.S. State Department released the 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report today. It approximates that there are 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world.

On a press phone call, Luis CdeBaca, Ambassador at large for Trafficking in Persons, called the word trafficking "rather unfortunate," when the reality is that it really means slavery. Translating trafficking rather than slavery into Spanish also causes problems when trying to raise awareness in Latin America.

The common image of trafficking is women forced into prostitution in Third World countries, though trafficking for labor is more common. The good news is that many developing countries have improved by enforcing laws and assisting victims, including Bosnia & Herzegovina, now a tier 1 state (the best) after years of being a tier 3 state (the worst).

The bad news is that even tier 1 states, like the United States, have a trafficking problem. Trafficking comes as close to home as the dinner plate in the United States. "The victim population in the U.S. has been majority Latino," CdeBaca said, mostly because of farm workers (this year it skewed to Thai farm workers in Hawaii because of a few large raids there).

He described the shift from African American to trafficked Latino farm labor in the Southeast as just a different type of slavery. The old plantation model has easily transitioned into industrial agriculture's factory farms--and these certainly aren't only in the Southeast...

Israel Correa, a candidate for Justice of the Peace in downtown Phoenix, is the subject of an 18-count indictment alleging sexual conduct with a minor, child prostitution and solicitation of child prostitution.

Correa's most recent indictment came less than a week after a Maricopa County Attorney filed a direct complaint alleging six counts of sexual conduct with a minor.

The allegations have not yet derailed Correa's attempt to become a Justice of the Peace in the downtown district.

Correa filed the required paperwork by a late-May deadline and his most recent legal problems won't affect his candidacy unless he's found guilty.

The 18-count indictment handed up on May 28 include allegations that Correa engaged in sexual conduct with four underage boys, including one who is under age 15. The indictment also attaches allegations of child prostitution to Correa's involvement with the boys, along with an allegation that Correa wrote bad check to one of the victims.

According to court paperwork attached to a separate criminal complaint filed on May 24, a 14-year-old victim told a neighbor he was sexually abused by a man he worked for named Jose. Phoenix police interviewed a 17-year-old victim a short time later and described similar incidents of sexual contact taking place in the 2400 block of North 24th Street, the same location given by the first victim.

Based on those allegations, Phoenix police arrested Correa on May 20 on suspicion of sexual conduct with a minor. Correa denied the allegations, according to court documents.

Correa's past troubles with the law includes a 2008 incident when he staged an abduction at his home. Correa accused former Justice of the Peace Carlos Mendoza — now one of Correa's rivals for the post — of coordinating a break-in at Correa's home that left Correa and his girlfriend duct taped.

Phoenix police pulled Mendoza out of his home at 1 a.m. before realizing Correa's abduction was a hoax. Correa was found guilty of filing a false report with law enforcement.

Correa was also arrested in 2008 after he refused to show his driver's license to a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy. Correa said sheriff's deputies targeted him because he is Hispanic. The Sheriff's Office said Correa's headlights didn't work and that he refused to cooperate when the deputy asked for identification.

In June 2009, Correa was arrested after police said he held two men at gunpoint in a Jack in the Box parking lot and flashed a badge claiming to be a police officer.

Barrio Logan (in the city of San Diego) - A 14-year-old girl was groped in a Barrio Logan alley Friday night.

The assault happened at 7:23 p.m. in the north alley of 2100 National Avenue.

A Hispanic man approached the girl, made a comment in Spanish, then touched her private area over her clothes. He smiled and fled westbound through the alley on foot.

The suspect appeared to be in his early 30's, 5'5" and heavyset. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division – Homicide/Sex Section are investigating a sexual assault that occurred early this morning near the intersection of Aspen Hill and Veirs Mill Roads in Rockville.

At approximately 12:32 a.m., officers from Montgomery County Police, Maryland National Capitol Park Police (Montgomery County Division), and Rockville City Police responded to Aspen Hill Road and Veirs Mill Road for the report of a sexual assault that had just occurred. The preliminary investigation revealed that the 26-year-old female victim was walking along Veirs Mill Road when she was accosted by two male subjects. The two males forced the victim into a wooded area along Veirs Mill Road and sexually assaulted her. After the assault, the victim was released and she called police.

One suspect is described as being 5’ 5” to 5’ 6” tall and weighing approximately 150 pounds. He has short dark hair. The other suspect is described as being 5’ 5” to 5’ 6” tall. He has short spiky hair. Both subjects are described as being in their mid-twenties and of Hispanic descent.

Anyone who may have information about this sexual assault is asked to call the Major Crimes Division – Homicide/Sex Section at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous and qualify for a reward may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information provided to them that leads to an arrest and/or indictment for this felony crime.

Police have yet to arrest a third suspect involved in the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl inside a former cannery building in east Gilroy last month.

Jesus Hernandez, 41, a local transient, and Martin Gonzalez Lopez, 43, of the 100 block of Third Street, were arrested May 6 on charges of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 after allegedly having sex with the girl in an abandoned warehouse. Hernandez also was arrested on a charge of sexual penetration of a child under age 14 with a foreign object. The pair have a plea hearing scheduled at the South County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Friday.

A third suspect allegedly had sex with the girl in exchange for $80 - $20 of which she gave to Hernandez and Lopez for beer and cigarettes they had already purchased, according to a police report. That suspect, allegedly a close friend of Lopez, is described as a 23-year-old Hispanic male who is 5 feet, 2 inches and about 142 pounds. However, police have not made any other arrests in the case, Sgt. Jim Gillio said Monday.

The 13-year-old victim told police that she initially planned to go to Christmas Hill Park at 7 p.m. May 4, but she could not find anyone to give her a ride there, according to court documents. As a result, she went to the Caltrain depot on Monterey Street and asked a man on a bicycle if he had cigarettes, the report said. The man said his "partner" had cigarettes, and he led the girl to the abandoned warehouse at 199 E. Ninth St., according to court documents.

The girl told police that about five people were at the encampment, and she told them she was 18 years old, according to police. She asked if they had marijuana and methamphetamine, and they said they did, according to police reports. The girl told police that a man, who she later identified as Lopez, provided her with both drugs.

In an initial interview, the girl said that she did not have any sex with any of the men, stating that they only had touched her chest and given her hickeys, according to court documents. However, her story changed during a subsequent interview after Lopez had told police that he had sex with the girl, according to court documents.

During a second interview, she initially told police that she woke up in the warehouse at Alexander and Ninth streets to find her shirt off and some of her clothes on backwards, according to court documents. Police still believed she was holding back information and gave her a pen and paper to write what happened, according to a police report. She then wrote that she had sex with Lopez, Hernandez and the third suspect, adding that she initially lied because she did not want to get into trouble, according to police reports...

An illegal immigrant from Guatemala faces up to 15 years in state prison on his guilty plea Monday to sexually abusing a 5-year-old boy in Parsippany over a six-month period.

Through a Spanish interpreter, Jorge Mario Hernandez, 26, admitted to state Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morristown to one count of aggravated sexual assault on the child between May 1 and Oct. 23, 2009.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor LaJuan Tucker has recommended that Hernandez be sentenced to 15 years in state prison, with 85 percent or 12 years and nine months to be served before parole consideration. Defense lawyer Neill Hamilton said he would argue for 10 years.

Hernandez, who told the judge he was educated until the 6th grade in his native Guatemala, said he understood he was likely to be deported upon release from prison. Sentencing tentatively was set for July 9.

Hernandez was arrested in October after an unidentified witness contacted police to say that he or she saw Hernandez assaulting the boy. Upon being confronted, the witness told police, Hernandez dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness. He said in court Monday only that he assaulted the child on more than one occasion; police had accused him of molesting the boy more than 30 times.

Before he is sentenced, Hernandez must be evaluated at the state's Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel to determine if he is a compulsive and repetitive sex offender who should be incarcerated there. According to the law, if he receives a sentence of more than seven years and is considered compulsive and repetitive, he still must serve a portion of his punishment in state prison before being transferred to Avenel.

A man from Scranton is accused of sexually assaulting a young boy over the course of a few months.

Jesus Marrero, 44, was arrested Wednesday. Police said he made a seven-year-old boy watch while he had sex with his girlfriend, then forced the boy to have sexual relations with him.

The boy was in Marrero's care at the time.

Police learned what happened when the boy told a school official.

El Paso County Sheriff's Officers arrest a former Fabens ISD teacher. Jose Arturo Lopez was arrested for an alleged incident that took place in December of 2008 involving a 15-year-old girl. At the time, Lopez was working at O'Donnell Elementary school as fifth-grade teacher. Lopez is charged with indecency with a child.

San Francisco - A 68-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting his 8-year-old step-granddaughter at her San Francisco elementary school last week was arrested Thursday at a homeless shelter after reportedly being harbored by his children and altering his appearance, police said Friday.

San Francisco police arrested Pedro Hernandez, who allegedly assaulted the girl at Sanchez Elementary School in the Mission District around noon June 3, at a shelter at St. Bruno's Catholic Church in San Bruno Thursday night, police said.

Hernandez is expected to be arraigned Monday morning in San Francisco Superior Court on seven felony counts, according to district attorney's office spokeswoman Erica Derryck.

The charges include continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years of age or younger, and oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years of age or younger. The last two charges are punishable by life in prison.

Three of Hernandez's adult children were also arrested Tuesday in connection with the alleged attack on the girl. Prosecutors filed charges against two of the children, but decided not to charge the third.

Marisol Lopez and Jesus Hernandez were arraigned in court Friday morning in on charges of being an accessory to the crime after the fact, according to Derryck. Both pleaded not guilty and were ordered held on $100,000 bail.

Police spokesman Officer Samson Chan said the children are believed to have helped their father get a motel room in Daly City after the alleged assault.

In addition, Hernandez shaved his moustache and cut his hair short in recent days, Chan said.

"He was actively trying to conceal himself," Chan said.

An investigation by the Police Department's Fugitive Recovery Team led police to the homeless shelter.

Following the alleged assault, police issued a $2 million warrant for his arrest and initiated a statewide and international search.

Police do not believe Hernandez was a member of the San Bruno church or that anyone at the shelter knew he was a fugitive, Chan said.

Hernandez has known the girl's family for several years and has lived with them on and off, according to police.

He had married the girl's grandmother but they are now separated, Chan said.

According to police, Hernandez arrived at the school to bring lunch to the girl and a female school district employee saw him "being overly affectionate toward the victim" and became suspicious.

The same employee then caught Hernandez allegedly sexually assaulting the girl in a secluded stairwell area inside the school and Hernandez ran away, police said. The woman called police.

Hernandez allegedly assaulted the girl in the stairwell multiple times and the acts were recorded on a video surveillance camera, police said.

Roberto Vasquez, 54, was convicted last year. He was sentenced to 247 years behind bars for molesting a young girl from the time she was six until she was 12.

According to the America's Most Wanted website, Vasquez posed as a religious adviser in Elkhart to get into people's homes. He molested one girl from 1999 until 2006, when he was arrested.

On the day of his sentencing in 2009, Vasquez went into hiding and authorities have been looking for him ever since.

The Elkhart Police Department actually contacted “America’s Most Wanted”, hoping to get more publicity in the case on a national level.

“Just because of the severity of this crime; 9 different child molests charges of one child and it had been going on for six years, and the fact that he uses the “I'm a religious adviser” to get into him people’s homes. I mean, this family allowed him to live in their homes,” said Elkhart Police Lt. Ed Windbigler.

On Thursday, in a Harris County courtroom, Genny Granados, 31, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for murder, after leaving her infant son in a Houston emergency room bathroom trash can.

According to prosecutors, sometime around midnight Feb. 9, 2008, Granados, who denied being pregnant, gave birth to a baby boy in an emergency room bathroom at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital.

She cut the umbilical cord herself, dumped the infant into the trash, and left.

A custodian later found the baby.

Doctors revived the infant, and placed him on life support. The baby was found to be brain-dead and died 11 days later.

At her arraignment, prosecutor Kelli Johnson said of Granados: “She has such little respect for human life that she tells no one, to my knowledge, that she was pregnant. She goes to the hospital, has a pair of scissors in her hand, and cuts her own umbilical cord and looks at her baby and throws it in the trash.”

Granados’ defense attorneys blamed hospital staff for the child’s death, saying they should have known that Granados gave birth in the restroom.

Granados is a legal U.S. resident who came to this country from El Salvador, and has two other children.

This sad case is reminiscent of another in which an illegal alien abandoned her baby in a dumpster in California.

In December 2009, the staff at Anaheim Medical Center became suspicious of the story given them by Juana Perez Valencia, 19, who though showing all of the signs, claimed she had not just given birth. Orange County deputies arrived and questioned her, eventually finding the corpse of her newborn daughter in the dumpster behind Sombrero’s restaurant, where Valencia worked as a waitress.

Apparently, Valencia gave birth to the girl in the restaurant’s bathroom, and allegedly placed the baby into a plastic bag, before tossing her into the dumpster.

An autopsy concluded that the baby had in fact, been born alive and healthy.

Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh told the Orange County Register that the Mexican national had concealed her pregnancy, and was fully aware that she could have simply handed the baby over to authorities with no questions asked, but instead chose to let her die in a trash bin.

The Orange County District Attorney‘s Office issued the following statement: “The baby girl was born alive. Baby Doe weighed 6.3 pounds and was 17 inches long. The defendant is accused of murdering the baby, putting Baby Doe in a plastic bag, and throwing her body in a dumpster behind the restaurant.”

Valencia was charged with murder and currently sits in the Orange County Jail awaiting trial. If convicted, she faces a sentence of 25 years to life.

A 31-year-old Grove City woman reported to Grove City Police that at 1:17 a.m. May 26 that she was the victim of rape while she was at a bar in the 3000 block of Southwest Boulevard. She told police that she believed someone slipped a date rape drug in her drink.

She woke up next to the trash receptacles behind the bar, bleeding copiously and complaining of internal pain. She told police that two to three men, one of whom had a scar above his right eye, raped her.

She told police she believed the men were Hispanic and mentioned a gang initiation. She also complained of confusion. The bartender reported seeing the woman in the company of a number of individuals during the course of the night.

One witness said she saw the victim vomiting and bleeding in the bathroom, but none of the bar patrons reported any awareness of a rape.

June 9, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Honduras near Casa Grande, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 in the state of Kentucky and had previously been removed from the United States.

June 7, 2010 - El Centro Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Calexico, California. Records checks revealed the subject is a convicted sex offender and had previously been removed from the United States.

June 7, 2010 - El Centro Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Ocotillo, California. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 in the state of California and had previously been removed from the United States.

June 7, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Cowlic, Arizona. During processing, the subject admitted to being a Latin Kings gang member. Records checks revealed he had a prior conviction for statutory rape in the state of Georgia.

June 5, 2010 - Del Rio Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Eagle Pass, Texas. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for indecency with a child with sexual contact in the state of Texas, and had previously been removed from the United States.

June 4, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from El Salvador near Naco, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject was a Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) gang member and had a prior conviction for possession/purchase of cocaine and spousal abuse. He had also previously been removed from the United States.

June 3, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Ajo, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for molestation of a child in the state of California and he had previously been removed from the United States.

June 2, 2010 - Del Rio Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico in Weatherford, Texas. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for delivery of a controlled substance and an active arrest warrant for aggravated sexual assault on a child issued in the state of Texas. The subject had also been previously removed from the United States.

May 29, 2010 - Yuma Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Yuma, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had an extensive criminal history, to include convictions for aggravated driving under the influence, assault and disorderly conduct. The subject was also a registered sex offender and had been previously removed from the United States.

May 29, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Casa Grande, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for rape in the state of Washington and had been previously removed from the United States.

May 29, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Douglas, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for lascivious acts and sexual penetration with foreign object of a minor in the state of California. The subject had also been previously removed from the United States.

May 27, 2010 - Laredo Sector - Agents assisted other Federal and local law enforcement officers in the arrest of an illegal alien from Mexico for kidnapping at a bus station near Laredo, Texas. The subject was en route to Mexico after kidnapping an 11-year-old female in the state of Illinois. The child was returned unharmed to proper authorities.

May 27, 2010 - Tucson Sector - Agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Gila Bend, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for rape in the state of California and had been previously removed from the United States.

Hockessin - New Castle County police are investigating a late night abduction and rape of a 9-year-old girl who accepted a ride from a stranger after she was inadvertently locked out of her home.

The investigation revealed that around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, a family friend drove the victim to her home on the 500 block of Homestead Road in Alban Park home. After the friend drove away, the victim initially entered her building but was unable to get into her home as the door was locked. Police learned she then walked back outside to search for her sister and her parents.

While walking along Alban Drive, near the rear of the Canby Park Shopping Center, the victim was approached by an unknown man who was driving a four-door vehicle. The man offered the victim a ride and after some conversation, she accepted. The two drove out of the community and then to an undisclosed location in the city of Wilmington where the car was parked.

Police say the male suspect then sexually assaulted the victim before she was able get out of the car and run. A good Samaritan found the young girl walking in the area and took her to a nearby convenience store. The victim was able to reach a family member by phone who responded to the store, picked her up and then drove her home. She then disclosed the assault to her mother, who in turned called 911.

The suspect is described as an Asian or Hispanic male with short black hair. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the New Castle County Police Department at (302) 395-8110 (attention Detective Brian Faulkner) or visit www.nccpd.com. Citizens may also provide a text tip at: 847411 (TIP411); begin your message with NCCPD and then type your message. Tipsters may also call Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333.

Police say investigators do not have any evidence at this point to believe this case is related to the two recent abduction and rape crimes that are being investigated by the Delaware State Police.

San Diego - A 14-year-old girls escaped from a kidnapping attempt Thursday morning in City Heights.

The girl told San Diego Police she was walking to school when a man walked out of an apartment complex at 4029 44th Street near University Avenue at about 7:15 a.m. He reportedly tried to grab her and started chasing her.

A passing school bus driver saw the girl appeared to be in trouble and called police.

Police describe the suspect as a Latino male, about 25 years old, 6 feet tall with a medium build, shaved head, wearing dark blue shorts and long white socks.

While the driver called police, the man fled. He was described as Hispanic, about 25 years old, 6 feet tall with a medium build and shaved head.

He had on dark blue Dickies shorts and long white socks.

Summit Police arrested Jose Gerardo Mazariedo, a 23 year old city resident, and charged him with two counts of third degree providing obscene materials to a minor and one count of second degree Child Luring on Monday, according to Detective Steve Zagorski.

This arrest, Zagorski emphasized, is not related to the May attempted luring on Linden Place.

On Saturday, the mother of a 14-year-old female reported to police that her daughter and three of her classmates had been followed home from school, every day for the past week, by an unidentified Hispanic male in his late 20s or early 30s who was operating a newer model Honda, color blue, Zagorski said.

At school dismissal time on June 7, the police set up surveillance around the victim's school and in the area of her walking route home. At around 3 p.m. police observed a 2010 Honda, which was being operated by Mazariedo, driving in the area under surveillance, Zagorski said.

The police stopped the vehicle and identified Mazariedo as the suspect from the June 7 complaint. Mazariedo was arrested after police uncovered additional evidence linking him to an additional victim, a 13-year-old female.

Mazariedo was committed to the Union County Jail in Elizabeth where he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Chief Robert C. Lucid commended the actions and skills of the two detectives assigned to the case, Sgt. Thomas Rich and Det. John Padilla, for "quickly securing the necessary information for these criminal charges before this individual could perpetrate a sexual assault. Without their diligence we may have had a very different story to tell."

Waukegan police are asking for the public's help in locating a man suspected in the sexual assault last week of a woman near a bike path in the far northern suburb, officials said today. Police said a 38-year-old woman was attacked at about 5 p.m. on June 4, on the Robert McClorey Bike Path just north of Montesano Avenue.

The woman was riding her bicycle on the path when she a man on another bicycle knocked her off of her bicycle and forced her in to a wooded area, officials said. The man assaulted her at knife point, police said.

After the attack the man left the area on his bicycle, traveling southbound on the path from Montesano Avenue.

The man is described as Hispanic, about 26-years-old, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a thin build and short black hair. The bicycle he was riding is described as a dark colored BMX style bicycle with foot pegs on the front wheel.

Police officials said they have a possible suspect identified and are "actively looking for him." Officials are asking anyone with any information about the incident to call detectives at (847)599-2608.

Henrico - Scary moments for a [city of] Short Pump woman who says she was attacked while on a morning jog near Lauderdale Drive and Park Terrace Drive. Tonight, police say they're treating this as an assault, and, exposure case, because when the woman tried to fight back, it turns out the man wasn't entirely covered up.

It's a crime that is as stunning, as it is unusual...in the upscale, private, and peaceful Wellesley neighborhood.

Police say a woman was on a mid-morning jog, when she saw a man walking toward her. She said, "Good morning". But police say the man, all of a sudden, shoved her backward. Police say the woman responded with a push of her own...only to notice the man's genitals were exposed.

"Kind of, just, you know...shocked. You don't really hear that kind of thing going on in our neighborhood," said Wellesley resident Sharon Sachdeva.

After the initial tussle, police say the man tried to run away, so the woman and a passerby chased him. Police say the man then got into a pickup truck, and drove out of sight.

Those who grew up in the area say it makes them think twice about their personal safety, which they usually don't have to do...

Henrico Police are looking for a person who fits this description: Hispanic male. Approximately 6' tall and 230 pounds, wearing white painter-style pants and a dingy white t-shirt. Police say he was driving a pickup truck. If you have information that can help, call Henrico Police at 501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000.

Police are searching for a man who attempted to sexually assault and rob a woman in a rented unit of a San Jose storage facility this afternoon.

The woman managed to fight off her assailant in the attack at about 4:30 p.m. at Public Storage in the 900 block of Felipe Avenue, police spokesman Dirk Parsons said.

He said the victim had entered her storage unit when an unknown man came up behind her, hit her with his elbow and attempted to lift her skirt.

The woman fought him off, but the suspect then threatened to steal her car. Parsons said the victim was holding keys to her Mercedes and that the suspect tried to grab them.

The victim, however, resisted and the suspect ran out the door of the storage unit, shutting it behind him, according to Parsons. The woman managed to quickly escape the unit, but the suspect then grabbed her.

Parsons said the victim again resisted and the suspect ran to his vehicle and drove off.

The victim was taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Police described the suspect as a Hispanic man in his 30s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 170 pounds. He was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, and a blue shirt and pants. A security camera at the business showed him driving away in a small Honda or similar vehicle, Parsons said.

Parson said the suspect could face charges of assault with attempt to commit rape, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. Advertisement

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call police at (408) 277-4102. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP.

An illegal immigrant caught on video sexually assaulting a 6-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to exploiting a child to make child pornography.

The arrest of 25-five-year-old Maynor Quintanilla-Leon occurred after someone found a videotape in a Hyattsville trash bin that showed Quintanilla-Leon sexually abusing a male child, according to charging documents.

Quintanilla-Leon faces between 15 and 30 years in prison, and will be deported after he serves his time, prosecutors said.

"Mr. Quintanilla-Leon's despicable acts committed on a 6-year-old boy cry out for a long period of incarceration," Prince George's Police Chief Roberto Hylton said.

On July 8, 2009, authorities were tipped off about the attack after someone turned over a video tape that had been found with a VCR in a trash bin.

The tape lasts 47 minutes and depicts acts of sadistic violence, charging documents said. During the video, the child refers to his assailant as "Maynor."

Three days later, a witness spotted the man on the videotape in Hyattsville and contacted police. Police identified the man as Quintanilla-Leon, but because they did not have a victim they did not immediately arrest him, police said.

Detectives were able to find the boy in the video by going back to the previous addresses where Quintanilla-Leon had lived. Quintanilla-Leon had rented a home near where the boy lived. The child told police that Quintanilla-Leon abused him 20 times.

Quintanilla-Leon had fled to Texas, but U.S. Marshals captured him in Houston on July 29.

In Greenbelt's district court on Friday, Quintanilla-Leon admitted to sexually assaulting the boy twice. He did not admit to videotaping the assault, but admitted to throwing away the videotape in the trash near his brother's house.

San Diego - Police are looking for a man who tried to rape a 14-year-old girl in Kensington.

The girl says she was walking along on 41st Street near Monroe Avenue at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the man threw her to the ground and tore off her undergarments.

A nearby neighbor apparently heard the girl's screams and attempted to apprehend the suspect, but he got away.

The suspect is described as a Latino male in his 30s with a goatee and tattoo on his right forearm. He was last seen wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt and shorts.

Police released surveillance video that shows three men believed to be suspects in the sexual assault of a woman in Central Park early Sunday morning. The victim, 23, was near the crosstown bus stop at East 86th Street and Fifth Avenue around 3 a.m. when, according to the Daily News, "The men offered to walk her through the park." Police Commissioner Kelly said, "She was taken into Central Park, where she was attacked."

The News also reports, "Two of the men pushed her to the ground, while the third exposed himself. She was sexually assaulted, hit on the head and robbed, the source said." The men allegedly told her they were smoking marijuana with PCP. The woman was able to run out of the park, half naked, onto Fifth Avenue where a cab driver saw her, gave her a shirt and called 911.

Upon learning about the attack, one 24-year-old told the News, "I always walk this way at night, but no way I'm doing that now." And WABC 7 has descriptions of the suspects: "Suspect #1: Hispanic man, 5'5" tall, with a dark colored Yankee baseball cap, dark colored patterned shirt and khaki shorts; Suspect #2: Hispanic man, 5'5" tall, with a red Yankee cap, red shirt and black shorts; Suspect #3: Hispanic man, 5'5" tall, with a light blue baseball cap, light blue shirt and khaki pants." People with information are urged to call Crime Stoppers (800-577-TIPS), log onto the Crimes Stoppers website or texting 274637 (CRIMES) with TIP577.

Luis Garcia-Gonzales, 24, of Greeley, was taken into custody at 10:47 p.m. Saturday after a Greeley police officer noticed the vehicle he was driving matched the description of a vehicle Fort Collins police believed was tied to Thursday's attempted kidnapping incident.

Garcia-Gonzales was originally arrested for driving under restraint, but after an interview with a Fort Collins police detective, he was arrested on suspicion of felony attempted second-degree kidnapping and felony menacing.

Police began searching for a suspect after a 21-year-old woman reported that she was riding her bike northbound about 6:30 a.m. Thursday on Shields Street near Hill Pond Road when she noticed a man near an older white station wagon trying to get her attention.

According to police, the man was described as being Hispanic, in his mid-20s with a shaved head or very short hair, about 5-foot-7 and about 200 or 250 pounds.

The woman said the unknown man obstructed her path as she rode along the sidewalk and she stopped thinking he needed assistance.

"It was then that she saw the man had a knife in his hand. She attempted to flee, fell to the ground and two passing motorists stopped to assist," police said in a press release last week. "The suspect fled northbound on Shields Street in his vehicle. The victim was not injured."

La presidenta de la Comisión Especial de Lucha Contra la Trata de Personas, la panista Rosi Orozco (PAN), informó que con base en datos del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, en México hay 3.6 millones de niños trabajadores entre cinco y 17 años en condiciones de explotación.

"El Instituto estima que en México hay 3.6 millones de niños trabajadores entre cinco y 17 años trabajando en malas condiciones, sin la posibilidad de asistir a la escuela y buscar un mejor futuro", dijo.

Aseguró que la trata de personas es un delito con un impacto social complejo, cuya principal característica es convertir a las personas en mercancías que se intercambian en mercados clandestinos nacionales e internacionales, que laboran al amparo de la impunidad que les brindan las autoridades.

Orozco dijo que se deben combatir las raíces que propician el fenómeno de la trata de personas, pues la mayoría de niños, mujeres, adolescentes víctimas de ese delito provienen de contextos de pobreza, derivada de la falta de oportunidades educativas y laborales.

In Mexico, 3.6 million children are exploited

The majority of girls, boys and adolescents who labor in abusive situations, with no hope of being able to attend school, live in poverty that is also caused by a lack of educational opportunities.

National Actional Party (PAN) Congressional deputy Rosi Orozco, who is the president of the Special Commission to Fight Human Trafficking in the Chamber of Deputies, has announced the results of a statistical analysis on conditions facing working children, conducted by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (INEG).

Deputy Orozco: The INEG estimates that in Mexico, 3.6 million minors between the ages of 5 and 17 work in [deplorable] labor conditions, and are unable to attend school or seek a better future for themselves.

Orozco added that human trafficking is a crime that has a complicated impact on society. Its principal characteristic is that it converts people into merchandise, who are then bought and sold in national and international clandestine marketplaces with the assistance of the impunity that is offered by corrupt authorities.

The deputy added that human trafficking should be fought from the roots up. They majority of children, adolescents and women who are victims of these crimes come from backgrounds of poverty, which itself derives from a lack of educational and labor opportunities.

Austin - In the 2008 film thriller Taken, two American girls on a pleasure trip to France are kidnapped from their apartment and thrown into a brutal world of modern-day slavery and forced prostitution.

On Thursday, Texas lawmakers heard grim real-life episodes of human trafficking as law enforcement officials described a burgeoning criminal enterprise that has spread across Texas and other states.

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed told of one case in which a homeless teenage girl was abducted from a parking lot and spirited away to a strip club in Corpus Christi.

Capt. Rick Cruz of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, a participant of a task force operation in Houston, said officers rescued nearly 100 girls from "basically forced slavery" in the break-up of a trafficking ring in Houston in 2005.

Victims are often told that their families will be killed or injured if they try to contact someone on the outside, Cruz said.

Dallas police Lt. Thon Overstreet opened testimony at a legislative hearing by revealing a coordinated law enforcement strike at three locations in the Metroplex on Thursday to arrest suspects in a human trafficking network in North Texas. Overstreet declined to divulge certain details or locations because the operation had not been completed...

"It's a horrible problem," said Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington, a member of the state House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, citing estimates that more than a half-million young people -- boys as well as girls -- have been kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Pierson said human trafficking often surges around "big events," such as the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Feb. 6.

Overstreet, interviewed after the hearing, said members of a North Texas task force on human smuggling are mapping strategy to combat it as the Super Bowl approaches. The game is expected to draw legions of visitors to North Texas...

Growing problem

During the joint hearing of the Criminal Jurisprudence and the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committees, lawmakers heard testimony that human trafficking rings have grown in sophistication and technological skill, often using the Internet to lure victims or conduct business. There are also strong indications that Mexican drug cartels are increasingly moving into human trafficking to expand their illicit profits.

"It's grown dramatically, and I don't think we've even scratched the surface on a lot of these organizations," Overstreet said.

Asked by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, to rank where law enforcement stands against human trafficking organizations on a scale of one to 10, Overstreet responded, "two or three, right now."

Overstreet clutched a rolled-up chart that he said detailed the operations of [a] human smuggling ring targeted by [a recent] raid.

The criminal network has ties in Nigeria, Colombia and Mexico, operates in more than 20 U.S. cities, and boasts $12 million in physical assets and more than $6 million cash, he said...

Chilean writer Isabel Allende is no stranger to the rough currents of history. A cousin of Chilean President Salvador Allende, she was forced to flee her native country in the mid-1970s after a military coup overthrew his government. She lived for many years in Venezuela but now is a U.S. citizen, making her home in California with her second husband and extended family.

The author of 18 books -- fiction, memoirs and novels for young adults -- Allende's literary focus is primarily on families and interpersonal relationships, with an emphasis on the lives of women. While fluent in English, she writes in Spanish; her works are then translated into English. Her wildly successful first novel, "The House of the Spirits, " a complex, multigenerational saga set in Latin America, remains for many readers her most important work.

Her new novel, "Island Beneath the Sea, " coming 28 years and 16 books later, echoes in many ways her earliest. The story follows the complicated, often troubled intertwining of several families as they move from Saint Domingue (now Haiti) to New Orleans during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The rich history of her settings exerted a natural attraction for Allende...

Allende writes, "The legacy of slavery is like an open wound. In the United States we are only beginning to deal with it. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 but it took 100 years for the Civil Rights movement to empower the blacks. To this day, they suffer from discrimination, racism and inequality.

"Unfortunately, in Haiti there are around 300,000 slave children, given away by their families because they can't feed them. It's a system that supposedly ensures that the children will be fed and sheltered, but in reality they are exploited as house servants and brutally abused; they don't receive education of any kind, no one cares for them."

The Isabel Allende Foundation, created in 1996 to honor the memory of her daughter Paula, who died in her late 20s, is focused on "social and economic justice" as well as "empowerment and protection" for women and girls.

The author connects the story of Zarite's journey from enslavement to freedom to contemporary concerns. She writes, "I hope that Zarité's story draws attention to the plight of modern slaves. Today there are 27 million slaves counted. Who knows how many more have not been counted? Some are victims of slave trafficking, but most are enslaved by debt bondage, kidnapping in war zones (child soldiers, for example), exploited under inhuman conditions in mines, fishing industry, sweatshops, agriculture, etc. Slavery is illegal and no country admits that it happens within its borders, yet there is slavery everywhere, even in the U.S. (Google 'Free the Slaves'). Before, slaves were an investment, and therefore valuable. Today slaves are so cheap that they are disposable, they have no voice; they are invisible.

"My foundation supports several grass-roots programs that empower women and girls in the U.S. and other countries. We do some work with clinics in Haiti. We also support programs that rescue women and girls from slavery in sex traffic and in bonded servitude." ...

Washington, DC - Bishops of the United States, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean called on their governments to address the economic root causes of migration and seek policies that will help create jobs for people in their homelands.

During a regional consultation on migration held at the headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops June 2-4, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City and bishops from Canada, Haiti and Latin America spoke with reporters about some of the issues being discussed at the meeting.

Addressing economic root causes of migration "in our mind, is the lasting and humane solution to the challenge of illegal immigration," said Bishop Wester, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, in a statement he read at the June 3 news conference.

"Second, we believe that all governments, not only the U.S., should look at their immigration laws and reform them in a manner which respects basic human rights," Bishop Wester continued. The nations of the hemisphere also must "redouble their efforts against the scourge of human trafficking," he said.

He noted that in a globalized world, where capital, communications and goods are readily exchanged, the movement of labor has not been regularized, and the impact of globalization on human beings has not been acknowledged or addressed...

Guatemalan Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini Imeri said, for example, that the poor of his country have not benefited from the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, which it ratified three years ago.

"The level of poverty in Guatemala is increasing," he said...