Del Mar College Combats Human Trafficking ... One Trucker at a Time
Transportation Training Services adopted Truckers Against Trafficking initiative in 2009
Lynette Cervantes recounts the time a scantily clad young girl knocked on the door of her truck cab at an Albany, NY truck stop. The temperature outside was 20 degrees.
“The girl asked if I wanted company,” said Cervantes, instructor for the Del Mar College Transportation Training Services program. “I told her, ‘No, but if you’d like to warm up for a while, you’re more than welcome.’ She responded that if I didn’t want a date, she had to move on.
“As soon as I rolled up the window, I called law enforcement,” Cervantes continued. “They surrounded the truck stop within minutes.
“I don’t consider myself a hero. I would hope that anyone would have made that call. These people are somebody’s family members.”
Del Mar College has educated Transportation Training students on human trafficking since 2009 using the Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) initiative. TAT is a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping and empowering those in the trucking industry to fight human trafficking in the course of their everyday jobs.
“We are proud to have this training in our curriculum so that thousands of students who have graduated or will be graduating can help prevent this terrible crime,” said John Rojas, Del Mar director of Transportation Training Services.
Del Mar is ahead of the curve on human trafficking education. A new Texas law went into effect Sept. 1 requiring training for truck drivers and other commercial vehicle operators to recognize signs of human trafficking. Under the law, applicants for a commercial driver’s license receive information regarding how to identify signs of human trafficking and how to report it.
One of the TAT teaching tools is a video demonstrating how truckers can identify human trafficking activity. The video uses the first-hand experience of Shari, a young girl who, along with her cousin Chrissy, were kidnapped from a Wendy’s restaurant and forced into prostitution at truck stops.
Shari, Chrissy and seven other minors were rescued as a result of one phone call from a truck driver. That call is also credited with shutting down a 13-state human trafficking ring.
More than 400,000 professional drivers are currently TAT certified, according to the organization’s website. Del Mar’s Transportation Training Services program provides wallet cards and window stickers with information about the TAT initiative.
“Thanks to Del Mar College for providing training on identifying and reporting human trafficking,” said Texas State Rep. Todd Hunter, a longtime advocate for expanded anti-human trafficking legislation. “Human trafficking is an important issue that needs to be prevented everywhere. The more we know, the better we will be able to help.”
Officials estimate more than 20 million people are trapped in the human trafficking epidemic worldwide. TAT has responded to more than 1,800 calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, identifying 525 human trafficking cases involving 972 victims, 315 of which were minors.
Cervantes said a fellow trucker didn’t make a call when he suspected human trafficking was taking place at a truck stop he was utilizing, and he later regretted that decision.
“We can all make a difference,” she said. “Truck drivers are the eyes and ears of the industry. Unfortunately, traffickers use truck stops to pedal these children.
“Make the call, save lives,” Cervantes added, echoing the TAT motto.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center’s hotline number is 1-888-373-7888.
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.