Trump administration retreats on combating human trafficking and child exploitation

Experts say decades of progress are under threat; Trump officials say administration remains committed to fighting trafficking and sex abuse

Under Trump, key initiatives for fighting human trafficking have been cut back at the US Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Guardian found. Senior officials and other staffers have been forced out, workers shifted to other priorities and grants delayed or cancelled.

At DHS, Trump has ordered agents formerly dedicated to investigating and arresting human traffickers to focus on deporting immigrants. Current and former DHS staffers interviewed by the Guardian confirmed that these investigators’ day-to-day work has been broadly shifted toward deportations and away from investigating “major crimes” with “real victims”.

At the state department, the Trump administration slashed more than 70%of the workforce at the agency’s office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons (Tip office), which is responsible for leading anti-trafficking efforts across the US government. The department has also held up grants for nonprofit organizations fighting trafficking around the world, putting their operations and services at risk.

In addition, the administration has also delayed release of an annual report that documents human trafficking across the US and more than 185 other countries. Federal law requires that the report – which charts global trends in human trafficking and provides a country-by-country assessment of efforts to combat it – be provided to Congress no later than 30 June. Multiple sources told the Guardian that the report has been completed but had not been provided to Congress.

US justice department halts funding for human-trafficking survivors

DoJ has nearly $90m appropriated by Congress to support victims, but organizations say funding has been cut

More than 100 organizations that support victims of human trafficking have lost funding since October, leaving thousands of survivors at risk, a Guardian investigation has found.

Anti-trafficking advocates say the US Department of Justice’s failure to spend nearly $90m appropriated by Congress is impeding law-enforcement investigations and exposing survivors to homelessness and the risk of deportation, jail time or re-exploitation.

“The Trump administration must be held accountable,” Ben Ray Luján, a Democratic senator from New Mexico, said. “Funding for these essential services must be fully restored immediately.”

Caseworkers at the Reformed church’s anti-trafficking program said they had had to turn away dozens of trafficking survivors since its federal funding expired in September. Other clients have faced eviction and some – including a single mother with four children and a grandchild – clients with children are back in homeless shelters – which makes them vulnerable to being trafficked again.

The justice department told the Guardian that it would begin the public process of making the money available in the next few weeks. The department’s statement was identical to one provided to the Guardian in September, when last year’s grants were about to expire.