DOJ Removes ‘International Sex Trafficking of Minors’ From Areas of Concern

OAN's Taylor Tinsley
2:10 PM – Wednesday, July 12, 2023

The Justice Department has made changes to what it considers are areas of concern.

The DOJ made recent modifications to its website under the section that listed the department's subject areas of concern regarding ‘‘Child Sex Trafficking'.”

“International Sex Trafficking of Minors,” “Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors,” and “Child Victims of Prostitution” have all been removed.

The section was added during the Trump Administration and used to highlight how international sex trafficking is a major problem in the United States. “Recovered victims originate from all over the world including Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, Western Europe” and more. It also noted foreign victims are easily targeted by traffickers who convince them a better life awaits them in the states, only to be subject to a life controlled by their captors or sold into prostitution.

2022 global law enforcement data from the DOJ showed more than 90,354 victims of trafficking were identified in 2021 and 109,216 were identified in 2020. It's unclear what prompted the move – as the DOJ hands out millions of dollars in funding to combat human trafficking every year.

It came amid Biden's border crisis as traffickers continue to smuggle children into the U.S. As of July 5^th, 2023 Health and Human Services (HHS) said they had at least 6,127 unaccompanied children in its care. In FY 2022 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) referred 128,904 unaccompanied children to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The move also came not long after HHS whistleblower, Tara Lee Roda, accused the U.S. government of being the “middleman” in a child trafficking operation. She testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement in April.

“I thought I was going to help place children in loving homes,” Roda testified. “Instead, I discovered that children are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with recruiting in their home country, smuggled to the U.S. border, and ends when ORR delivers a child to a sponsor — some sponsors are criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations. Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income — this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking.”

The DOJ's ironic timing also comes as Hollywood and the left have sounded the alarm on a new film that recently came to theaters called Sound of Freedom. The movie is based on a true story that follows a Homeland Security agent who saves a pair of children from being trafficked in South America.

Media outlets have denounced the film as just another right wing conspiracy. The movie, however, grossed nearly $15 million during its opening weekend.

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