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Posts tagged ‘CHILD TRAFFICKING’

Biden’s DHS and HHS Now a ‘Child Trafficking Delivery Service,’ Tim Ballard Says


By: Virginia Allen / @Virginia_Allen5 / September 13, 2023

Read more at https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/09/13/bidens-dhs-and-hhs-child-trafficking-delivery-service-tim-ballard/

Tim Ballards speaks into a microphone while seated before Congress.

“Traffickers use our southern border to bring slaves into our country for the sex industry because the United States is one of the highest consumers in child sex abuse material in the world,” Tim Ballard tells members of Congress during a hearing in Washington, D.C., Sept. 13. (Photo: Screenshot from hearing)

Human traffickers are making money off America’s current border policies, according to Tim Ballard.  

“Traffickers use our southern border to bring slaves into our country for the sex industry because the United States is one of the highest consumers in child sex abuse material in the world,” Ballard, a former U.S. government special agent, told members of Congress.  

The lack of border security and poor policies are “feeding the growth of human trafficking,” according to Ballard, whose story was recently featured in the box office hit “Sound of Freedom.”  Ballard drew the connection between the trafficking of children in the U.S. and the border crisis during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday morning.  

During his opening statement, Ballard referenced the 85,000 unaccompanied migrant children that the Biden administration has released to sponsors in the United States and since lost contact with.   These 85,000 minors “are prime targets for traffickers, for sex or labor,” Ballard told Congress. “Tragically, as a result of this administration’s current policies, [the Department of Homeland Security] and [the Department of Health and Human Services] have unwittingly become a child trafficking delivery service.”  

As the hearing progressed, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green questioned Ballard on the alleged connection between the current administration’s border policies and the trafficking of children.  

“Are the catch and release policies of [DHS] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas facilitating the trafficking of people and children?” Green, R-Tenn., asked.  

“Absolutely,” Ballard answered.  

“So, word it another way,” Green pressed, “there are cases of human trafficking and sex trafficking of minors that are occurring that would not be occurring if these policies were not in place?”  

“That’s correct,” the former agent said.  

Green then asked Ballard if he believes that “Mayorkas knows there are human trafficking cases happening because of his policies?”  

“I do believe he knows that,” Ballard said.  

DHS did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by the time of publication.  

Since fiscal year 2023 began in October, Customs and Border Protection has encountered 109,905 unaccompanied migrant children on America’s border. There were 152,880 unaccompanied children encounters in fiscal year 2022 and 147,975 in 2021. In 2020, CBP encountered 34,126 unaccompanied migrant children on America’s border.

One of the issues leading to human trafficking is the “absence of physical barriers on our border,” Ballard said. “I have personally seen how ports of entry were responsible for helping rescue a child, catch a sexual predator, and started a chain of events that rescued multiple children from [the traffickers’] abuse,” he said. “On the other hand, I’ve spoken with survivors who were trafficked by cartels taking advantage of the miles of unprotected U.S. border.”  

Asked by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., what Congress should do to help Border Patrol agents, Ballard said the first step Congress must take is to find the 85,000 children that the U.S. government has lost contact with, and “we need to start enforcing the laws that Congress put upon the executive branch, which is to enforce the border. That’s the most compassionate and it’s the only compassionate policy for children … you end it by enforcing the border policies.”  

Ballard worked for the CIA before spending 12 years as a special agent and undercover operator for Homeland Security investigations. Ballard left his job as a government employee to found Operation Underground Railroad and rescue children from human trafficking. He now works as a senior adviser to the Spirit Fund, an organization that funds and collaborates with various entities to fight and end human trafficking.  

In addition to Ballard, Sandy Snodgrass, founder of Alaska Fentanyl Response; Mayra Hinojosa Cantu, the wife of a Border Patrol agent; and Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, also testified during the hearing.

Wednesday’s hearing continues the House Homeland Security Committee’s five-pronged investigation into the current situation at America’s border and Mayorkas’ failure to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the border.  

In June, Green announced an investigation into Mayorkas’ handling of the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border, saying the probe is part of his committee’s “congressional oversight duties” and pledging to leave “no stone unturned in its efforts to get the facts.”   

The panel’s investigation, he said, includes examining: 

  • Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty. 
  • How the border crisis facilitates the illegal activities of drug cartels.  
  • The human cost of the border crisis.
  • The financial cost of the crisis.
  • Suspected fraud within the Department of Homeland Security.  

Now in the third stage of the investigation, Green challenged his colleagues to “deal with the human costs of this terrible crisis. And we must do so now.”  

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Political

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Sex Trafficking Drama ‘Sound of Freedom’ is a Heartbreaking and Hopeful Call to Action


BY: AARON GLEASON | JULY 07, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/07/07/sex-trafficking-drama-sound-of-freedom-is-a-heartbreaking-and-hopeful-call-to-action/

Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard in "Sound of Freedom"

Author Aaron Gleason profile

AARON GLEASON

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“Sound of Freedom” follows the true story of Special Agent Tim Ballard who specialized in catching

sex criminals, particularly in regard to the exploitation of children on the internet. But Tim is challenged early in the film by the seeming futility of catching criminals when real children’s lives are at stake. Years of looking at the darkest side of humanity has broken his heart to pieces, and the only way he can see to rebuild his humanity is by liberating the lost and forgotten victims of the sex trafficking network. He goes on a quest to South America to do just that.

Jim Caviezel plays Ballard. His classic no-frills acting approach is perfect for this role. Caviezel is best known for playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s controversial “The Passion of the Christ.” He brings the same level of intensity and compassion from this role to Ballard’s story. In fact, Ballard’s mission to seek and save lost children is a distinctly Christian value based on the theological principle that each child is uniquely beloved by God. 

When Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,” he was making a revolutionary claim. Children, the most vulnerable and dependent members of society, had a special place in his kingdom. They mattered to him in a way that no other religious founder has ever envisioned. The faith of a child was the type of faith Jesus wanted from his followers — one free from the pollution and cynicism of adulthood, one of total dependence on their Heavenly Father. 

These values aren’t universally understood and accepted. Ballard’s story is proof of that. According to the movie, the child sex industry brings in $150 billion dollars every year. This industry is powerful and is not nearly as niche as we would like to think it is. While its visible activists are milquetoast perverts we can easily jail, the invisible perpetrators are the ones who do the real damage — the cartels, drug lords, and even our own politicians enable the child sexual slavery that is more prominent now than ever before.

At the end of the film, Caviezel addresses the viewers and makes the point that this story isn’t about a movie production or even about Ballard. It’s about the children — lost, invisible children who suffer in the depths of hell every single day. While the rich and powerful try to indoctrinate us with critical race theory and other ideological moralisms, true victims suffer in literal cages and chains. 

The children are by far the best and worst part of this film. The two lead child actors are heart-wrenchingly perfect — a brother and sister who have been ripped apart by this evil industry. I’ve never seen such realistic and effective acting from children. Thankfully, the film only ever implies the atrocious things that are done to them, but in some ways that makes it even more disturbing. Our imaginations torture us, and they should torture us on this issue — more than visual depictions could.

And that is what makes the child acting simultaneously the worst thing about this film. All the children seem like genuine children. None of them look like actors — they are presented to us with complete realism. If you have anything even resembling a conscience, watching these children is an utter tragedy. It is painful to see their pain on full display. 

This film might not depict anything visually distasteful, but it is not for the weak-hearted and is difficult to watch. It is honest about what this world is and does. I heard crying throughout the entire theater audience — it is beyond moving. At the end of the film, I wanted to clap, but it felt inappropriate. It was similar to watching “Schindler’s List.” What exactly are we celebrating by clapping for films like this? The heroism I suppose, but it doesn’t feel right. Silent repose seemed to be the most appropriate response.

The film itself is magnificently produced. The direction by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde is fantastic and is tonally similar to the brilliant “Sicario.” However, the best part of the production is the score. It is full of the voices of children, which gives voice both to the lament of evil and the hope in the midst of it. And despite the pain, there is much hope in this film.

Children have been freed from chains due to the efforts of people like Ballard. That hope should inspire us all to action. We cannot act out of guilt or shame that we have not done more already. Instead, we must move forward in the hope that justice will be brought to this evil. It is possible to seek and save those who are lost. 

During his message in the credits, Caviezel explains that “Sound of Freedom” is supposed to call a sleeping nation to seek justice for the oppressed. The United States is actually one of the largest consumers of child sex trafficking — a large part of the responsibility is in our own backyard.

So what can we do about it? First and foremost make sure people see this film. Angel Productions has even provided free tickets online. This story can change people’s hearts and inspire them to do something about child slavery. It is a call to action.

Early on in the film, Caviezel looks at a pedophile he’s using to try to find some of the lost children, and he quotes Jesus: “If anyone causes these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them if a millstone were hung around their neck.”

The current culture war is all about children. Children are the most important thing in the world. We cannot allow our world to be dominated by child sexual abuse. We must help. To quote the film, “God’s children are not for sale.”

A.C. Gleason is a proud alumnus of Biola University and Talbot Seminary. He teaches philosophy full-time. His writing has appeared in numerous outlets including Hollywood in Toto, The Daily Wire, and The Imaginative Conservative.

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Crime, Media, Political, Spiritual

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