The Trump administration is making the fight against human trafficking a major priority. In addition to putting money behind the effort, a special unit of U.S. Marshals is making a huge difference.
In Ohio, a joint operation between federal and state officers recently recovered 35 missing children. A similar operation rescued 39 missing children in Georgia. Behind all this success is a unit of the U.S. Marshals Service. The Sex Offender Investigations branch is made up of only three men, working overtime to save as many kids as they can.
“When I assumed the position of commander of the sex offender investigations branch, my eyes were opened. There are over 430,000 missing kids a year in our country,” said Floriano Whitwell of the Marshals Service.
Of those, at least 65,000 are victims of the commercial sex industry.
“We’re trying to have an impact. We’re trying to do the best we can with the resources we have in place,” Agent Whitwell told CBN News.
Ongoing riots and violence against federal courthouses in Portland and elsewhere, however, are taking agents away from this important work.
But it’s a zero-sum game,” Whitwell said. “In order for us to deploy these resources, it detracts from other mission sets that are equally as important. Our leadership is very passionate and supportive of this initiative, and we’re trying to throw as many resources at it as we can, but the reality is, we’re just scratching the surface.”
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Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.
