Crackdown on Human Trafficking in the Pacific Northwest

Collector Black, with the assistance of other Federal officials, has determined to put a stop to the illegal immigration of Japanese in this state and Washington. It is proposed that all engaged in the nefarious business of bringing women from Japan for prostitution and contract labor shall be vigorously prosecuted until it is stopped. On Tuesday, Collector Black swore out warrants for the arrest of six Japanese, three men and the same number of women, for the purpose of having them deported, and one of the women, Oashi Taka, has been remanded for trial. The other five have not been arrested, and are now probably in hiding or left the city. Collector Black has been in correspondence for some time with Collector Saunders, of Port Townsend, and Special Treasury Agent Cullom, relative to the arrival of Japanese on this Coast, and the warrants sworn out by him are the first action taken in the matter. Most of these Japanese are landed at Sound ports, and are passed by fraudulent representations being made that the women are wives of men in this country. Once allowed to land, they are hired out for immoral purposes, and they are really made to lead the lives of slaves. Under the provisions of the law, any person who is discovered to have been brought to this country for the purpose of prostitution or contract labor, within one year from their landing, can be deported upon proof of such facts.