The American People Don’t Want To Be Complicit In Human Trafficking At The Border

This article originally appeared in The Daily Caller on January 11, 2024.

For many Americans, the start of a new year is filled with enthusiasm and presents an opportunity to build on last year’s successes or hit the reset if things did not meet expectations. However, for us, it is also a solemn reminder that January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, with January 11 specifically designated as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Elevating this serious issue to the forefront draws awareness to the cruel sex trafficking and forced labor that has become far too common in today’s world. In his proclamation continuing the decades-long recognition of National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, President Joe Biden correctly describes human trafficking as “a threat to global security, public safety, and human dignity.”

An estimated 27 million people worldwide are the victims of human trafficking and forced labor. That is an unfathomable figure to digest. While nobody should be subjected to this modern-day form of slavery, we are particularly concerned about the entirely preventable exploitation of vulnerable human trafficking victims in the U.S. caused by the unsecured southern border. Specifically, the record number of unaccompanied alien children who have been trafficked across the southern border since January 20, 2021, is breathtaking. Because of the current open border policies, more than 440,000 unaccompanied alien children have been trafficked or smuggled across the southern border. It is well documented that these vulnerable minors are subjected to abhorrent physical, mental, and sexual abuse as they travel alone, separated from their families. They’re coming because predatory traffickers are convincing them to come — exploiting the fact that, under current border policies, migrant children will be released into American communities even though they do not qualify for asylum. This is not how our immigration system is supposed to operate.

Read full op-ed in The Daily Caller.