(May 31, 2018) -- Human trafficking has emerged in recent years as an issue of national and international concern. Each year, millions of people worldwide are forced to work for little or no pay or exploited for sex. Estimates from the International Organization of Labor places the number of trafficked persons as high as 21 million worldwide, while the U.S. government estimates that 14,000 to 17,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year.
UTSA professors Michael Smith and Robert Tillyer want to reverse that trend. They are conducting research to examine the analytical tools that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses in its human trafficking investigations and victim assistance efforts.
“ICE Homeland Security Investigations [HSI] is one of two federal law enforcement agencies charged with investigating human trafficking crimes. While the agency makes use of many different intelligence sources, we may be able to assist in its efforts by analyzing non-classified data sources to help improve the effectiveness or efficiency of human trafficking investigations or the provision of services to victims,” said Smith.
The researchers will be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the tools that ICE currently uses. Drawing on best practices from criminology and quantitative analytics, they will provide input to ICE about how to expand their toolbox to reduce human trafficking incidents and help victims.
In the first phase of the project, the UTSA researchers will begin to identify open source data maintained by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that could be leveraged to assist ICE HSI in its efforts to disrupt human trafficking. During this phase, the team will conduct interviews with law enforcement agencies, NGOs and other human trafficking stakeholders both in Texas and at stakeholders’ Washington, D.C. headquarters offices.
The project will conclude with a preliminary analysis plan to help ICE improve the targeting of offenders, organizations and money flow. The researchers will also provide additional resources to ICE victim support personnel in their efforts to help human trafficking victims.
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Covidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
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