Target: Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State
Goal: Do not rescind essential resources for holding human traffickers accountable.
The elimination of human trafficking is an issue that has traditionally united individuals across the political spectrum. Entire campaigns have made this serious problem a central focus, including the president’s previous campaigns. But in an inexplicable move that could seriously derail the mission to protect people from exploitation, the Trump administration’s Department of State has gutted its primary agency for combating human trafficking. A a time when the “Epstein files” are drawing national attention, this action seems particularly misguided.
As part of downsizing that stripped away over a thousand positions and entire offices (dealing with urgent issues ranging from genocide to women’s rights), the Department of State dismantled its Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (or TIP office). With decades of bipartisan support behind it, the TIP office has been responsible for fighting labor and sex trafficking around the world. They have developed on-the-ground civil groups, trained prosecutors to try these complex cases, helped put financial and political pressure on leaders involved in cover-ups, and much more. As a consequence of the office’s sudden loss of support, an annual report that provides important data on human trafficking worldwide will not be completed. The ramifications will not end there.
Sign the petition below to demand leaders stop ignoring and dismissing the victimization of tens of millions of human beings.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Rubio,
You have defended recent department-wide cuts as “not aligning” with administration priorities. Are democracy, curbing extremism, ending genocide, or promoting peace and women’s rights not priorities for this administration? And with sex trafficking very much in the national spotlight, is the end of human trafficking likewise not a priority?
How else can you explain the almost complete eradication of the state department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons? The 2024 Trafficking in Persons report issued by this department called human trafficking “a strain on the conscience of our society.” According to the report, an estimated 27 million people worldwide are victims of labor or sex trafficking. We will not know how these alarming statistics may have changed because the annual report is no more, along with so many other vital services that this office provides.
As the Secretary of State, you have a guiding mission: to “protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values and shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive.” The cuts made to TIP are antithetical to this mission. Restore TIP’s important work and show survivors across the country and across the globe that their voices will not be silenced.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department
