Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP)

The Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) protects the American public and U.S. interests from serious threats to public safety, border security, immigration systems, and individual rights by prosecuting: (1) leaders and members of criminal networks and cartels responsible for prolific transnational alien smuggling, human trafficking, and related immigration fraud crimes; (2) individuals and enterprises implicated in other human trafficking offenses involving forced labor, sex trafficking, and related coercion-based trafficking crimes; (3) persons who have committed human rights violations including genocide, torture, war crimes, and other atrocities, including those who flee to the United States seeking safe harbor after committing such crimes or who commit immigration fraud by concealing their past crimes; and (4) persons who committed violent crime abroad where a U.S. citizen is a victim or perpetrator. As part of its mission, HRSP helps lead Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas.

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