A new law on human trafficking has changed the way some Mexican youths who are stopped at the border return home, said Alejandro Martinez, consul for protection at the Mexican Consulate in Nogales.

Congress passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 last December. It was named for Wilberforce, the British politician who campaigned against the slave trade in the British Empire in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

“This law is to prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation of juveniles,” said Mario Figueroa, deputy Mexican consul in Nogales.

The law went into effect March 19, said Bonnie Arellano, acting chief for public affairs for the Tucson Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The agency did additional training for its employees so they can identify trafficking victims, she said.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case Flores v. Reno set the parameters for detention and processing of juveniles, Arellano said. “They are treated with kid gloves.”

CBP transfers minors who may have been trafficked to the custody of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, she said.

Before March 19, when Border Patrol agents or personnel at the ports of entry caught a minor trying to cross illegally into the U.S., they called the consulate, Figueroa said.

“We go to the Border Patrol station twice a day,” he said. “We interview the juvenile there and gather more information. We try to look for the parent. Most of the time, we can locate a relative if we contact Grupo Beta (a Mexican organization that aids migrants) or Mexican immigration.”

The majority of juveniles were transferred to Mexican immigration authorities and taken to the shelter for unaccompanied minors in Nogales, Sonora, Figueroa said. In Mexico, if no parent can claim the child, he or she can be released to a grandparent or older sibling.

But under the Wilberforce law, a Mexican child can only be returned to his or her parents or a legal guardian, Figueroa said.

Since April 22, consular representatives have interviewed six minors who appeared to be victims of trafficking, Figueroa said. He believes they were transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Once they put the child into this Wilberforce process, it could take weeks before he could be returned to Mexican soil,” Figueroa said. “That’s not good for the children.”

What is the difference between being trafficked or smuggled?

“Trafficking is completely different from smuggling,” said Mario Escalante, public information officer for the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. “Smuggling means the person is paying to be brought across.”

But Arellano sees them as “one and the same,” she said, especially if the child is 14 or younger.

“The most important thing is to get them out of the hands of the trafficker and protect them while we try to reunite them with their families,” Arellano said.

If the child is 14 or older and can explain that he or she was being transported to reunite with family members, CBP can call the Mexican Consulate to repatriate the child, Arellano said.

About 90 percent of the minors the consulate sees are 14 to 17 years old, Figueroa said.

“We are trying to inform the community, especially our Mexican nationals,” Figueroa said. “Not only is this a crime, but the moment they deliver their children to a smuggler, he could take the child somewhere and subject that child to exploitation.”