Thanks in part to all the work that former President Donald Trump did to combat sex trafficking, an “incredible impact” in the fight against that horrible crime has been made. That was “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild”, which took place in California and led to the arrest of 368 people and the freeing of 131 victims. The operation lasted for 7 days and ended just before the end of January.
116 of the nearly 400 arrests were made by Los Angeles Police Department investigators. According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, the massive operation was conducted over seven days and took place in nine California counties. Included among those nine were Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties.
Discussing the operation and the victims, Chief Moore said “The average age of most victims was in their mid-20s, and our investigators worked diligently alongside our victim advocacy groups in providing these victims with services and resources to help them escape from this life-threatening environment.”
The LAPD released a statement on the operation, saying:
In observance of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, The Los Angeles Police Department (in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, and 82 law enforcement agencies supported by various victim advocacy groups) conducted a statewide operation that focused on the rescue of commercially sexually exploited victims and the apprehension of their exploiters.
Operation Reclaim and Rebuild occurred during the week of January 22, 2023, through January 28, 2023. Investigators across the state conducted operations to raise public awareness of human trafficking by searching for potential sex trafficking victims, arresting their exploiters, and investigating other prostitution-related crimes.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 368 suspects statewide for various criminal charges. One hundred ninety-five exploiters were arrested, and six minors were rescued from possible exploiters. In addition, 125 adults were identified as trafficking victims and they received appropriate victim services. All recovered minors were placed in protective custody and will receive assistance from the Department of Children and Family Services and victim advocacy partners.
The collaborative efforts of law enforcement agencies, social service departments, victim advocacy groups, and community stakeholders made this operation a success. Most importantly, 131 victims of sexual exploitation were recovered from their difficult environments and were offered suitable services.
Anyone with information on this crime or any other crimes related to Human Trafficking, should call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by logging on to www.lacrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may remain anonymous
Many have thanked former President Trump for his role in taking the fight to the sex traffickers. The found of SHAREtogether, Jaco Booyens, said in an interview in 2021 that Trump’s Administration was unlike any other in its fight against sex trafficking, saying:
“We’ve never had an office in the White House designated and dedicated to fighting sex trafficking.”
“No former president in the history of this country has used his or her platform to denounce the exploitation of children and then appropriate funding. So we’ve seen an incredible impact over the years, over the last four years, particularly towards the support for law enforcement. We’ve seen a tremendous rise in apprehension, the arrest of perpetrators and rescue of victims under the Trump administration, no question about it.”
“In these cases that you’re seeing now such as California, and you’ll see some others coming out now, they’ve been 9, 10 months in the making under the Trump administration—in that mechanism of funding law enforcement appropriately, having special task forces.”
The DC Enquirer, reporting on what former President Trump did to fight human trafficking, reported that:
Here is a complete list of actions Trump and his administration took to help end child and human trafficking:
In one of his first acts in office, Trump signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (S. 1312), establishing a new prevention, prosecution, and collaboration initiative to bring human traffickers to justice.
On December 21, 2017, Trump signed the Abolish Human Trafficking Act which strengthened programs supporting human trafficking survivors.
On December 31, 2017, Trump designated January 2018 as a month dedicated to combating human trafficking.
On January 9, 2019, Trump signed the Human Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act which gave $430 million to fight human trafficking not only in America, but worldwide.
On October 20, 2020, Trump’s Department of Human Services (DHS) launched a brand-new center for countering human trafficking.
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