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Anatomy of a Coyote

caracaschronicles.com

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Re: Anatomy of a Coyote

#11

Post by ajross »

MisterTea wrote: post #9
Miner49er wrote: post #2

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "human trafficking" isn't used correctly in the article? Human trafficking is the trade of humans. Coyotes don't do that, they just help people get from one place to the other. A better term would be people smuggling.

From multiple sources: Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. A coyote smuggles people but the status of the people being smuggled varies. Either the people pay the coyote up front for safe crossing but many can't afford the price. So they are promised a "job" in order to work off their coyote debt. Job being a euphemism for bondage/slavery…

None of that is alleged in the linked article, though. Also, and I think most folks here might be missing the distinction: the article is about refugees from Venezuela fleeing to South American destinations, not border crossing into the USA.

Re: Anatomy of a Coyote

#12

Post by ajross »

Icathian wrote: post #3
Miner49er wrote: post #2

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "human trafficking" isn't used correctly in the article? Human trafficking is the trade of humans. Coyotes don't do that, they just help people get from one place to the other. A better term would be people smuggling.

I think that distinction is strictly connotative. From pure definitions, human trafficking and "people smuggling" are synonymous.

No. "Human trafficking" is a term of art in the international community. It has a formal definition and standardized usage. The wikipedia page is as good an overview as any: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking

Re: Anatomy of a Coyote

#13

Post by hombre_fatal »

pisteoff wrote: post #10

ha It's always fascinating to me how language evolves. For some reason I thought this would be about hunting and skinning coyotes, as in the varmints I hunted as a kid, not people smuggling folks across the boarder. I read the URL as carcass, not caracas. I should know better than to think something like that would be a thread on Hacker News.

This is just an example of a word having various meanings.

For some reason it's a tired HN tradition to point this out. "Haha, did anyone else thing it was talking about the animal? :^D"

Re: Anatomy of a Coyote

#14

Post by PhasmaFelis »

Miner49er wrote: post #2

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "human trafficking" isn't used correctly in the article? Human trafficking is the trade of humans. Coyotes don't do that, they just help people get from one place to the other. A better term would be people smuggling.

Related, isn't it weird that we euphemize slavery as "human trafficking" these days? I don't think anyone who says that is actually trying to make slavery sound friendlier, but it's odd that we do it at all.

Re: Anatomy of a Coyote

#15

Post by dragonwriter »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #14
Miner49er wrote: post #2

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "human trafficking" isn't used correctly in the article? Human trafficking is the trade of humans. Coyotes don't do that, they just help people get from one place to the other. A better term would be people smuggling.

Related, isn't it weird that we euphemize slavery as "human trafficking" these days? I don't think anyone who says that is actually trying to make slavery sound friendlier, but it's odd that we do it at all.

> Related, isn't it weird that we euphemize slavery as "human trafficking" these days?

It's it so much a euphemism (designed to make it sound better) as avoidance of endless debate over whether things which aren't chattel ownership are really strictly the same thing as “slavery”.

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