Backup Documents 02/10/2015 Item # 4C 4C
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking reports that HUMAN TRAFFICKING
involves the commercial exchange and exploitation of humans, including forced prostitution
and pornography, involuntary labor, servitude and debt bondage; and,
WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a growing problem worldwide, recently rising to the second most
common criminal activity behind the illegal drug trade; and,
WHEREAS, Florida has been identified as a hub for human trafficking activity, citing one of the
highest incidences of human trafficking in the country; and,
WHEREAS, This crime affects all types of individuals, both foreign and domestic. Currently, there are
approximately 20.9 million people enslaved throughout the world with 2.5 million located
right here in the United States. These statistics show that slavery is still alive and
flourishing throughout the entire world; and,
WHEREAS, Slavery was supposed to end with the Emancipation Proclamation signed September 22,
1862. Several years later, the Thirteenth Amendment on December 18, 1865, officially
making ALL slavery illegal in the United States; and,
WHEREAS, The Coalition of Immokalee Workers was recognized in Washington, D.C. on January 29,
2015 by Secretary of State John Kerry who honored members by awarding them in a
ceremony at the White House a 2014 Presidential Medal for extraordinary efforts to
combat human trafficking. Secretary Kerry presented the medal to members of the
Coalition during the White House's annual Forum on Human Trafficking; and,
WHEREAS, Secretary Kerry spoke of the non-profit Coalition's partnership working with local and
federal law enforcement to uncover farm slavery operations across the Southeastern U.S.
During the past .15 years, nine major investigations and federal prosecutions have freed
more than 1,200 Florida farmworkers from captivity and forced labor; and,
WHEREAS, Fort Myers attorney Doug Molloy, who prosecuted many high-profile slavery cases and
was an internationally recognized anti-trafficking crusader, was on the front lines with
the Coalition until retiring as chief assistant U.S. attorney for Southwest Florida in 2013.
NOW THEREFORE, be it proclaimed that the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida,
extends sincerest congratulations to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for their 2014 Presidential
Medal for exemplary efforts in fighting HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
DONE AND ORDERED THIS 10th Day of February 2015.
� 0\�\I 4I1 '� BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
/ COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
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, TIM NANCE, CHAIRMAN
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