Minnesota Lays Groundwork For Tougher Labor Trafficking Enforcement

(Adobe Stock via Minnesota News Connection)

(By Mike Moen. Minnesota News Connection) – Minnesota is making use of a $9 million grant from the philanthropic world to enhance its work in stopping labor trafficking.

Policy analysts said Minnesota has one of the toughest wage theft laws in the country. It has also seen improved assessments from national groups measuring human trafficking prevention in cases where young people are sexually exploited.

At the end of 2025, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation awarded new funding for the state to lay out a larger strategy for responding to instances when someone is forced into labor within a range of industries. Ramsey County is a local partner tasked with adding resources to prosecute these crimes.

John Choi, county attorney, said there is still a lot of ground to cover when you tie all of this criminal activity together. “We have vulnerable people. We have third parties who are taking advantage of that workforce,” Choi outlined. “We have things that we can unearth as a part of a criminal investigation.”