"Study finds evidence of sex trafficking in trade schools”

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Researchers identified at least 18 state-authorized schools across five states suspected of engaging in sex trafficking operations, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation (SHSF). And now a congressional committee is demanding that something be done. 

The report’s authors, Ellie Bruecker and Abigail Seldin, wrote that state certification boards suspected these vocational schools of facilitating environments that could be too easily used by traffickers to train their victims for more lucrative work — but Bruecker estimated that the problem is much more widespread.

“I had never heard of this,” said Bruecker, a senior research associate at SHSF. “I thought and hoped that we wouldn’t find much of anything. But to hear about this in multiple states and to have schools named was definitely shocking to me.” 

In a letter sent on Tuesday to Miguel Cardona, the secretary of Education, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has broad investigative powers, explicitly cited the new research in a request that the department do more to combat human trafficking. 

“The subcommittee would like to work together to determine if any other federal funds are unknowingly being provided to bad actors,” wrote Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat. “And I look forward to pursuing our shared goal of protecting against trafficking in America’s schools.” 

Seldin, the chief executive and co-founder of the SHSF, said she started looking into this subject in December 2019 when the foundation was “exploring how to enhance accountability measures in the higher education space.” She had not expected to come across paperwork alluding to sex trafficking, she said.

After receiving a tip about potential trafficking cases, Bruecker led the small research team in trying to find more information but had a difficult time finding public records, news clips or any documentation about trafficking ties to American schools. 

“I started with one name of one state authorizer,” Bruecker said. One call led to another. “Eventually, I contacted 90 different state agencies and 57 responded. I talked to 15 on the phone who were familiar with the issue, but the vast majority said they had never heard about this or that it wasn’t happening in their states.” 

In addition to the recent case in Minnesota, the researchers found other schools that were disciplined or shut down for “various accounting and record-keeping infractions” that indicate sex trafficking. One school, for instance, operated an alternative website that advertised in Chinese, offered low-rent housing and noted high placement rates in spas owned by a person who had already faced federal investigation. In another incident, state authorizers found students living in a school basement with sleeping bags on the massage tables. 

Many of the reports she found had redacted the names of the victims, limiting her ability to dig further, Bruecker said.

Over the course of her team’s investigation, Bruecker said the earliest occurence of trafficking in American schools that she stumbled across was 30 years ago. And she believes the actual number of academic front programs is higher than what is documented because some state authorizers don’t know what red flags to watch for.

Also, Bruecker said, not all states have the proper amount of authority to monitor suspicious activity and levy consequences, and requirements to be a school vary depending on location. Minnesota, for example, is one of a handful of states that does not have a state board that regulates massage education or a state-wide massage licensing system. 

The authors of the study briefed about half-a-dozen Department of Education officials about their research, said Tracy Sefl, a communications consultant for the foundation. 

“We’re hoping that this research sparks conversation,” Seldin said. “It is difficult to talk about, and goodness knows, it was difficult for Ellie and our team to research, but it is happening to students in this country. And it’s incumbent upon us to ask whether our current regulatory structure is strong enough to protect students from this kind of abuse.” 

I contacted 90 different state agencies… the vast majority said they had never heard about this.

Ellie Bruecker, a senior research associate at the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation