In the early days of Capitalism, Slaves were a large part of the agricultural work force in the United States. We're often led to believe, in our history courses, that slavery is an aberration contained in the past. However, slavery has continued to exist right up through US History and into the present day. Of course we now have different names and arrangements for Slavery. Sweat Shops, Prison Labor, and Human Trafficking are some of these new arrangements.

This week, on Indy TV, Owen Thompson and Renan Salgado, farm worker advocates with Farmworker Legal services of New York, discuss the dynamics of Human Trafficking as it pertains to the agricultural labor market and immigration policy in the United States.

Thompson explains the specifics of Trafficking:

"As it tends to be used in today's context, Human Trafficking is a synonym for Modern Day Slavery and there's a lot of truth in that. But to get more specific, to get into the legal definition of what trafficking is: Human Trafficking is about using force, fraud or coercion, for example threats of force, to make someone perform labor for you. So they can get paid for it, and in that sense its important to distinguish: is it slavery or is it not slavery has become a lot more complicated in modern times."

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