skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, June 13, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Tensions over L.A. immigration sweeps boil over as Padilla is tackled, ICE arrests pick up; IN residents watch direction of Trump spending bill amid state budget cuts; More than two dozen 'No Kings' events planned Saturday across Montana.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Democrats demand answers on CA Sen. Padilla's handcuffing and removal from a DHS news conference. Defense Secretary Hegseth defends the administration's protest response as preventative, and Trump vows protests of Saturday's military parade will be met with "heavy" force.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

EV charging stations are harder to find in rural America, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven rural states, and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

Human Traffickers Still Use the So-Called 'Minnesota Pipeline'

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 8, 2012   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A report being delivered to Minnesota lawmakers this week is expected to open their eyes to an issue often in the shadows - human trafficking. Brian Rusche, executive director of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC), says some estimates put the number of women and girls involved in prostitution in the state at 10,000.

"The fact is that Minnesota has a human trafficking problem out of proportion to our population; more than you would expect. And so, the first thing we need to do, I think, is just shake us up a little and say, 'This is happening in our backyard and we have to address a growing problem.'"

Rusche says the perpetrators often target those children who are vulnerable; the typical age of a child forced into trafficking is between 11 and 14.

"If you're a young person and you're homeless, and somebody is going to get you out of the cold and give you a warm place to live, that has a certain amount of attraction – and just may be enough to keep you in a really unhealthy relationship."

Some people question why the victims don't just run when the false kindness they were shown turns into forced sex or labor. Rusche explains it is often because they have nowhere to turn, and have been robbed of their human dignity and free will.

"There's a certain level of coercion, psychological control and fear involved, so that people feel like they are locked in, they're trapped and they can't get out. It's a modern form of slavery."

Two ways to address the issue, says Rusche, are to enact tougher penalties for perpetrators and ensure that state law treats victims like victims. He adds the factors that increase vulnerability to human trafficking also need to be addressed – such issues as poverty, homelessness and child neglect.

Rusche says the state actually earned the label "the Minnesota pipeline" because of its reputation as a place where young girls could easily be lured, whether it was in the cities, the suburbs or small towns. In 2008, the FBI declared Minneapolis the eighth worst city in the United States for trafficking of juveniles.

The report is online at jrlc.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A single Abercrombie dairy facility will house 12,500 cows. Combined with the planned 25,000-cow Herberg site, these two operations will generate manure equivalent to that of a city of 1.5 million. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

North Dakota is facing growing opposition to two massive dairy operations planned near the Red River. Environmental advocates say the projects could …


Social Issues

play sound

The budget reconciliation bill being considered by the U.S. Senate proposes $863 billion in Medicaid reductions over a decade, with 10.9 million …

Social Issues

play sound

Next Monday marks the beginning of "PROTECT" week, when AARP helps seniors learn the signs of financial fraud. Experts say Maryland seniors can …


Researchers estimate only one in 1,000 sea turtles reaches adulthood. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

As World Sea Turtle Day approaches on Monday, an expert explains threats to sea turtles and their ecological importance along the coasts of the …

Health and Wellness

play sound

As Congress reviews budget slashes to health care in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a new evaluation from the nonpartisan Cong…

Sensitive areas such as San Diego's Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve are experiencing impacts from degraded water quality and sea level rise. (Nancy D. Regan/Flickr)

Environment

play sound

California took a big step Tuesday toward the goal of conserving 30% of land and waters by 2030. The Ocean Protection Council adopted a roadmap to …

Social Issues

play sound

A Kent State University shooting survivor is warning Ohioans and others to take note of the U.S. military's involvement in immigration-related …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Nevadans with disabilities are concerned with proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, despite claims from GOP lawmakers that the cuts target only waste…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021