Human trafficking -- Human smuggling.

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.



  • (1) An actor commits human trafficking for labor or sexual exploitation if the actor recruits, harbors, transports, obtains, patronizes, or solicits a person through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, which may include:
    • (a) threatening serious harm to, or physical restraint against, that person or a third person;
    • (b) destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any passport, immigration document, or other government-issued identification document;
    • (c) abusing or threatening abuse of the law or legal process against the person or a third person;
    • (d) using a condition of a person being a debtor due to a pledge of the debtor's personal services or the personal services of a person under the control of the debtor as a security for debt where the reasonable value of the services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined;
    • (e) using a condition of servitude by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that if the person did not enter into or continue in a condition of servitude, that person or a third person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint, or would be threatened with abuse of legal process; or
    • (f) creating or exploiting a relationship where the person is dependent on the actor.
  • (2)
    • (a) Human trafficking for labor includes any labor obtained through force, fraud, or coercion as described in Subsection (1).
    • (b) Human trafficking for sexual exploitation includes all forms of commercial sexual activity, which may include the following conduct when the person acts under force, fraud, or coercion as described in Subsection (1):
      • (i) sexually explicit performance;
      • (ii) prostitution;
      • (iii) participation in the production of pornography;
      • (iv) performance in strip clubs; and
      • (v) exotic dancing or display.
  • (3) A person commits human smuggling by transporting or procuring the transportation for one or more persons for a commercial purpose, knowing or having reason to know that the person or persons transported or to be transported are not:
    • (a) citizens of the United States;
    • (b) permanent resident aliens; or
    • (c) otherwise lawfully in this state or entitled to be in this state.




Download our app to see the most-to-date content.