You’ve read in our pages about the scourge of illegal spas in Dallas. These are storefront operations passing off as massage parlors, with valid state licenses, that in reality sell women for sex. The women are often immigrants from Asia and Latin America, lured to the United States for jobs but then recruited or forced into the sex trade.
This isn’t just a Dallas problem. These fronts for human trafficking can be found in suburban communities and major cities across Texas. The process to enforce state licensing rules can be drawn out and result in anything from a warning letter to a license revocation. Police investigations are resource intensive and can take months. That is why cities like Lewisville advocated for legislation last year to make it easier for state regulators to shut down these businesses.
It wasn’t a bill that got much attention in a contentious legislative session, but it’s worth highlighting as an example of constructive bipartisan policy making. The law, House Bill 3579, authorizes the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to issue emergency orders to shut down a massage establishment if law enforcement officials or regulators suspect human trafficking. The law also includes provisions that allow cities to adopt certain restrictions against massage businesses or locations with a history of arrests or sanctions.
State regulators are already using the new law to crack down on suspicious businesses. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation said the agency had issued emergency orders to shut down five businesses since the law went into effect in September. These orders affected two businesses near Houston and Beaumont, two in Austin and one in San Antonio.
Opinion
The agency said in July that it was shutting down San Massage Spa in San Antonio for six months because state inspectors spotted indicators of human trafficking during a June inspection. State officials said they found employees wearing provocative clothing, a container with used condoms and items that indicated people were living inside the business. Inspectors said there were no client consultation documents required before providing massage therapy.
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No massage businesses have been shut down in North Texas under the new state law so far, but a spokeswoman for TDLR said more emergency closures are expected.
Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore went to Austin last year to advocate for better enforcement tools against illegal spas. He said that by the time there was any substantive enforcement action, the massage business would have a new owner and new staff even as it continued to engage in suspicious activity.
“You would have to go back through this game all over,” he said.
We previously reported about intensive Dallas police investigations against illegal spas. Dallas police Executive Assistant Chief Michael Igo told us that his department has a good relationship with state regulators and that he doesn’t expect the state’s new enforcement powers under HB 3579 will hamper police investigations.
“We look at it as an additional tool,” Igo said.
The Legislature should continue looking for ways to strengthen enforcement. For instance, the practice of applying pressure to hands and feet but not any other part of the body, known as reflexology, is not regulated. Foot reflexology businesses therefore are not inspected by TDLR even though some of them traffic in sex.
A 2023 bill by state Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Garland, would have closed this loophole but didn’t gain traction.
In Dallas and other places, law enforcement officials treat sex workers as victims, not criminals. For these victims, police and prosecutors have championed programs for rehabilitation. But those who would exploit girls and women deserve nothing less than the full weight of the law.
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Publish date : 2024-08-16 20:00:00
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