Important Takeaways:
- In February 2019, President Donald Trump met with Tom Ballard, a former special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the founder of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). Ballard was there to discuss the ongoing fight against human trafficking along the southern border.
- By the time Ballard left the West Wing later that day, President Trump had appointed him to spearhead his White House Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking.
- To date, Ballard and his team have rescued over 3,000 victims, leading to the arrest of 182 human traffickers. They are now the subject of the unlikely summer box office hit, Sound of Freedom, starring Jim Caviezel as Ballard.
- In February 2017, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking.” This order directed federal agencies to prioritize combating human trafficking and increase efforts to dismantle criminal organizations involved in trafficking.
- President Trump signed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) in April 2018. FOSTA aimed to hold websites accountable for facilitating sex trafficking by amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which previously shielded websites from legal liability for user-generated content.
- President Trump established the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
- Arguably, the most significant achievement of President Trump’s administration in combating human trafficking was the shutdown of Backpage – a notorious website that facilitated sex trafficking, allowing individuals to post ads for illicit services, including the exploitation of minors.
- President Trump’s commitment to combating human trafficking continued throughout his time in office.
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