Trump to appoint official focused on human trafficking to White House domestic policy office: report

The Trump administration will appoint an official to their domestic policy office who will focus exclusively on human trafficking, the Associated Press reported Thursday. 

A White House official told the AP that Trump will announce the position at a human trafficking summit at the White House on Friday. The appointee was not disclosed to AP but they are expected to be an official from another government agency.

According to the AP’s reporting, the State Department will also create a website that will provide resources for law enforcement officials, victims and advocates on government-wide efforts to combat human trafficking.

The Trump administration has made human trafficking one of their top priorities since the president took office in 2017, and on Wednesday it was reported that Trump is expected to propose a $42 million budget increase to combat human trafficking. 

However, it was also reported Wednesday that several major anti-trafficking organizations, including Polaris, a nonprofit which runs the national anti-trafficking hotline, announced they are planning on boycotting Trump’s summit on Friday, where he plans to announce the new position. 

The organization points out that Trump’s professed support to cause does not, to them, match the action needed to combat the epidemic. The administration increased scrutiny of T visas, which allows entry to the U.S. for those who can prove they were trafficked illegally.

“We have such a chasm between rhetoric and reality,” Martina Vandenberg of the Human Trafficking Legal Center told the Washington Post. “I don’t think any of us have the desire to be a part of a photo op.”