SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved a package of legislation Wednesday intended to crack down on slave rings that force people -- often poor and illegal immigrants -- to perform menial and sometimes debasing work in sweatshops, construction and prostitution.
"The practice of trafficking in human beings -- modern-day slavery -- is a horrific crime that our society cannot abide," Schwarzenegger said.
The legislation establishes a felony crime of human trafficking, which is a national problem that particularly afflicts California.
Though law enforcement has been able to prosecute many of those crimes under existing state and federal laws, including kidnapping and pimping, advocates said the new law would help convict those who use psychological coercion.
They said it also would better focus California authorities on finding and stopping such schemes.
Advocates also heralded provisions that would provide new support for victims, including measures making it easier to obtain restitution and federal benefits. The law also is designed to provide reassurance for victims who are reluctant to report rings because they fear being deported.
"This represents a sea change in the way California's law enforcement can have an impact on some of the most vulnerable communities," said San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris, one of the legislation's sponsors.
Human trafficking has bedeviled California for years. In 1995, 71 Thai workers were freed from virtual slavery in an El Monte sweatshop. A study earlier this year from UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center identified 57 forced labor operations in California between 1998 and 2003.
A $6-million trafficking ring in Mountain View that forced Chinese women to work off debts in massage parlors inspired the central of three laws Schwarzenegger signed, AB 22, sponsored by the area's assemblywoman, Sally Lieber, a Democrat.
Lieber said the law would aid people like Florencia Molina, who was lured from Mexico in 2002 by a female trafficker with promises of a good job only to be pressed into 17-hour days at a Los Angeles garment shop.
"She told me she could do whatever she wanted because dogs have more rights in this country than I have," said Molina, who escaped after 40 days.
The bills signed Wednesday allow for people convicted of human trafficking to receive up to five years in prison, or eight years if the victim is under 18. Offenders can continue to be prosecuted under other laws, such as kidnapping and rape, that carry stiffer sentences.
