Washington, D.C. — The Trump Administration has reportedly rolled back child protection programs, and now U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is demanding answers.
Following reports that the Trump Administration is aggressively rolling back Federal anti-child trafficking programs, Sen. Ossoff is demanding answers from the Trump Administration about reported cuts to key initiatives to combat child exploitation and deprioritized trafficking prevention programs.
According to The Guardian, law enforcement agencies have reassigned staff from anti-child trafficking positions to focus on other roles, often with no criminal nexus.
Reporting from The New York Times has found that DHS agents nationwide worked the fewest hours on child exploitation from February through April of this year than they have during that period in more than a decade, while at the same time the State Department reportedly cut more than 70% of staff in the office responsible for leading the U.S. government’s anti-trafficking efforts.
“Over the last two years, I have led bipartisan inquiries into reports of chronic understaffing among the FBI field office teams responsible for processing and investigating allegations of child sexual abuse,” Sen. Ossoff wrote. “The inquiries also addressed a reported lack of capacity at FBI to address human trafficking and child exploitation. My concerns have grown in light of recent reports of additional staffing and program cuts at FBI and other agencies across the federal government.”
Sen. Ossoff continues working to protect children from abuse and human trafficking.
This week, Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan Preventing Child Trafficking Act passed the U.S. Senate to strengthen coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prevent child trafficking.
Last month, the Senate passed the bipartisan Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Ossoff, to close loopholes that make kidnapping, sexual abuse, and child exploitation harder to prosecute.
In January, Sen. Ossoff launched a bipartisan inquiry with then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, urging them to address chronic understaffing in positions aimed at addressing reported child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Last year, Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan REPORT Act was signed into law, requiring websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving Federal trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). A May study showed that since the bill’s signing it has helped uncover thousands of alleged crimes against children.
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry.
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