If you've been following our work, it's clear that CPAC has been working hard to improve efforts to combat the scourge of human trafficking that is facing communities, urban and rural, across this country. America’s human trafficking crisis is a stain on our national conscience, worsened by government inaction and an alarming erosion of public trust. Our system has left our borders and communities exposed to traffickers preying on our most vulnerable—children, women, and men trapped in horrifying cycles of abuse. President Elect Donald J. Trump is inheriting a crisis from the Biden-Harris Administration and below outlines the initial steps to bring an end to modern day slavery.
Mandate Cross-Agency Collaboration to Detect and Respond to Human Trafficking
The Trump Administration must work quickly to end the segmenting of differing agencies addressing sex and labor trafficking and require each to report directly to one point directed from the White House to coordinate on rescuing victims and arresting criminal actors.
Agencies, such as the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, that were complicit in the border crisis and the loss of over 300,000 unaccompanied minors, must be revamped with new leadership that prioritizes tracking and enforcement of Federal law to keep children out of the arms of traffickers.
To accomplish this, the President should immediately sign an Executive Order creating a new Government-wide Commission to End Modern Day Slavery that coordinates across these agencies to fight human trafficking.
Establish New Policies Supporting State and Local Leaders in Rooting out Traffickers
Through Executive Order, President Trump can mandate that Federal agencies prioritize identifying criminal organizations engaged in trafficking and utilize all resources available to assist local multidisciplinary task forces in dismantling these operations. This includes expanding the Project Safe Childhood, Project Safe Neighborhoods, and DHS Countering Human Trafficking Programs to provide robust resources to law enforcement and victim advocates.
The administration can also prioritize securing the border by reintroducing counter measures aimed at identifying potential victims, including familiar DNA testing at the port of entries and consistent, physical monitoring of any unaccompanied minors entering the country through a sponsor, to ensure the safety of that child. Prior to the Biden-Harris administration removing this testing, only 30 percent of minors brought across the border were actually related to those they were traveling with.
Provide an American Solution to an International Crisis
Sex and labor trafficking does not begin or end at our country’s borders. Victims often travel across time zones to be abused worldwide, thanks, in part, to the growth of social media and accessible travel. The Department of State estimates that between 14,500 to 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States from foreign countries. The Trump Administration can immediately press international partners to expand existing cooperation agreements to assist in victim care and coordinate law enforcement operations that dismantles criminal trafficking organizations.
Additionally, we must lay the foundation alongside Congress to hold tech companies accountable for abuse that continues to occur on their platforms both at home and abroad. International partners must recognize the harm these online entities cause victims and their families, including the facilitation of victims bought and sold through social media and images circulated to continuously harm survivors.
CPAC’s Center for Combating Human Trafficking looks forward to joining forces with President Trump’s Administration to meet the challenge through testimony before Congress, roundtables with law enforcement leaders, and drafting policy to assist survivors. Support from organizations and donors aligned with this fight against modern day slavery will afford us the opportunity to dedicate the staffing and resources needed for such an ambitious effort.
