Labor Trafficking Is Closer Than You Think: A California Reality Check

While public perception often focuses on sexual exploitation, California also experiences widespread labor trafficking in common workplaces ranging from agriculture and hospitality to beauty services, domestic work, and construction. The National Human Trafficking Hotline reports that California identified 182 labor trafficking cases in 2023, underscoring that forced labor is a persistent, statewide problem.

Why California is especially vulnerable

California’s size, economy, and reliance on seasonal and low-wage labor create conditions that traffickers exploit. Migrant workers on temporary visas are particularly at risk because many visas tie a worker to a single employer. Polaris found widespread abuse among H-2A agricultural visa holders, with high rates of wage theft, excessive hours, and restricted freedom to leave abusive jobs.

The agricultural sector, long supply chains, and informal labor markets make detection difficult. Community-based organizations such as the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking document recurring patterns: employer control of documents, debt bondage, withheld pay, threats of deportation, and cramped employer-provided housing. These tactics trap workers in exploitative conditions.

Who is affected

Forced labor cuts across age and immigration status. Children have been documented working in exploitative agricultural and domestic roles in California. Survivors include U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and undocumented workers. The California Attorney General’s materials and past task force reports note that both sex and labor trafficking appear across urban and rural counties. However, labor trafficking can be especially concentrated where low regulation and informal hiring practices are common.

Gaps in the state response

California has strong anti-trafficking laws and a robust network of service providers. Still, government reviews have identified gaps in survivor outreach, data collection, and inter-agency coordination. A state review highlighted inconsistent screening at recruitment points and limited access to linguistically and culturally appropriate services for labor trafficking survivors. Those gaps mean many labor trafficking situations never enter official counts.

What to look for and how to help

Signs that a worker might be trafficked include missing pay, excessive hours without breaks, living at the workplace, lack of control over identity documents, threats about immigration status, and obvious fear of authorities or employers. Businesses and community members can help by training staff to spot red flags, posting hotline information in multiple languages, and using ethical hiring practices that allow workers to change employers if needed. The National Human Trafficking Hotline offers state-level data and reporting guidance for people who want to act.

Closing

Labor trafficking in California is not a distant problem. It is embedded in familiar industries and everyday transactions. Preventing it requires targeted outreach to vulnerable workforces, stronger protections for guest workers, better data and cross-agency coordination, and community vigilance. When employers, policymakers, and neighbors understand where risk lives, we can push exploiters out of the supply chain and into the light.

Sources

1. National Human Trafficking Hotline, California statistics.

2. Polaris Project, report on labor trafficking and temporary work visas.

3. Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), 2024 policy materials and research. 

4. Office of the California Attorney General, human trafficking overview and state reports.

5. Little Hoover Commission/state review on California’s response to labor trafficking.