Fighting the Scourge of Human Trafficking

As chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's "Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States," I'm committed to ensuring the mass gatherings on America's soil — from the FIFA World Cup to the 2028 Olympics — are safe and fun for all.

Unfortunately, these events provide a backdrop for criminal activity, including human trafficking, which I've always believed is a modern-day form of slavery. Human trafficking sweeps during the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston led to the arrests of 750 individuals, including solicitors and human traffickers.

This week, I held a task force hearing to examine this issue and prepare to combat it. Click below to watch my full opening remarks at the hearing, which was entitled, "A Scourge Against Humanity: Addressing Human Trafficking at Mass Gatherings.”

I've seen this issue firsthand through a brave human trafficking survivor named Courtney Litvak, who testified at our hearing.

I had the honor of meeting Courtney after she escaped from her traffickers in 2017. Soon afterwards, I got her appointed to President Trump's U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. She now serves as Director of the Survivor Leader Initiatives at No Trafficking Zone, and at our hearing, she spoke to how human trafficking organizations work, where they operate, and what can be done to stop them.

I also spoke with Jonathan Thompson, Executive Director and CEO of the National Sheriffs' Association, about the nearly 500,000 unaccompanied alien children who entered the country under the Biden administration and remain vulnerable to human trafficking. And I discussed the effectiveness of the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign, which I authorized into law several years ago, with Eliza McCoy, Vice President of Programs and Impact at the American Hotel and Lodging Association Foundation.

Click here to watch my full questions and the witnesses' insightful responses.