• MICHAEL GRACZYK/None
• Originally published August 19, 2010 at 3:44 p.m., updated August 19, 2010 at 7:13 p.m.

HOUSTON (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday proposed new laws to stiffen penalties for human trafficking in the state and renewed his criticism of the federal government for failing to keep the Texas-Mexico border secure.

The governor wants state lawmakers when they reconvene in January to make "the worst of these traffickers" subject to first-degree felony charges that could carry up to 99 years in prison. Advocacy groups say Texas is a hotbed for such crimes because of its geographic location, demographics and large migrant work force.

"Those who would commit these heinous acts need to know if you're caught in Texas, you're not going to see the light of day for a long, long time," Perry said.

Texas enacted a human trafficking law in 2003, and last year Perry signed a measure creating a statewide human trafficking task force attached to the Texas Attorney General's Office. The law took effect in January.

Perry said he was making $500,000 in grants available to counties and cities to help victims of human trafficking. His office's criminal justice division also will provide the attorney general with nearly $300,000 to expand the trafficking task force to aid in prosecution of cases.

Perry said human trafficking preys on the hopes and dreams of victims who were promised better lives for themselves and their families.

"Unfortunately, what awaits victims is a life of confinement, hard labor, prostitution, physical and mental abuse, and in far too many cases an early death," he said. "Human trafficking is simply modern-day slave trade and its scope is very chilling."

The governor cited federal statistics that estimate 20,000 people fall victim to human trafficking in the U.S. each year, "but we have no reliable way of knowing if the problem may be worse than that." He said about 20 percent of the victims may be in Texas.

The Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition, a consortium of Houston nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations and government agencies, said Texas and Houston remain hotbeds of human trafficking not only because of their locations, but because of demographics and large numbers of migrant workers. Houston's port and airport, along with its proximity to Mexico, add to the problem.

Perry, a Republican seeking a third full term in the November elections, said part of the problem related to human trafficking was the porous border with Mexico.

"If the United States government would expend the resources, put the boots on the ground, if they would employ the technologies we have today, not only would there be substantially less of these victims of human trafficking, there would be substantially less drugs and other types of crime perpetuated not only on citizens of Texas but this whole country," Perry said.

Asked how the trafficking initiative he proposed Thursday was related to his run against Democratic challenger and former Houston Mayor Bill White, Perry replied he didn't know whether White addressed the issue while in office.

"I do know what we've been doing in the state of Texas to address it," he said.

White "worked with the police department to fight human traffickers," his campaign spokeswoman Katy Bacon said. "As governor, he'll work with local, state and federal law enforcement to fight human traffickers, drug traffickers, and gangs."

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