Trump Launches National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

AENN

Chriss Street

Feb 04, 2026

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The Trump Departments of Justice and Homeland Security just launched their second annual National Human Trafficking Prevention Month to re-affirm the all-of-government effort to combat human trafficking, and protecting all victims and survivors.

President Donald J. Trump immediately after his re-inauguration in January 2025, signed Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Section 6 of the EO directed the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to jointly establish Homeland Security Task Force’s in all 50 states and Washington DC.

The Trump administration HSTF’s 2025 objectives included ending the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States; dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks; end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children; and ensure use of all available law enforcement tools to faithfully execute United States immigration laws.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi outlined several Department of Justice successful enforcements actions working with HSTF in 2025 that included:

· Secured substantial sentences and landmark convictions against sex traffickers and labor traffickers who used violence, addictive drugs, and psychological coercion to exploit victims across the United States including: Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

· Seized $15 billion from a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy originating from a Cambodian forced labor scam center.

· Secured high-impact sex trafficking indictments in New York against an enterprise associated with the notorious Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua Transnational Criminal Organization, and in California against traffickers affiliated with local street gangs.

· Pursued extraditions of fugitive traffickers to permanently disrupt and dismantle transnational labor trafficking and sex trafficking enterprises.

· Secured sizable restitution orders, including several over a million dollars, to aid victims in their recovery from the unspeakable losses they endured.

· Launched a Remission Portal for survivors of sex trafficking that was facilitated through Backpage or CityXGuide to seek compensation.

· Streamlined and strengthened Joint Task Force Alpha efforts to combat combined human trafficking, human smuggling, and transnational organized crime threats by integrating the Department’s National Human Trafficking Coordinator and human trafficking prosecution experts into the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

· Announced new grant funding opportunities to support victim services in the years ahead.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called special attention to HSTF 2025 September Surge that executed 400 HSTF operations over a 43 days period to made 3,266 arrests and seizures including:

· 1,041 Sinaloa members,

· 856 Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (“CJNG”) members,

· 641 MS-13 members,

· 456 Tren de Aragua members,

· 1,067 weapons

· More than $3,250,000 in currency

· Approximately 91 metric tons of narcotics

AG Bondi stated that DOJ and DHS plan to again surge resources and raise awareness to fight human trafficking in 2026 by:

· Identifying ongoing investigations and prioritizing featured operations across 45 federal locations and 10 state locations with an emphasis on border states.

· Coordinating with FBI Human Trafficking Squads and multi-agency Human Trafficking Task Forces to conduct victim recovery.

· Partnering with AMTRAK and FAMS to increase law enforcement resources and distribute posters with QR codes for reporting human trafficking in all station bathrooms and trains.

· Running advertisements related to $250 million recovery from Backpage to distribute to victims and additional victim restitution efforts by DOL-OIG.

· Organizing Human Trafficking seminars and outreach events with DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking at high schools and colleges to highlight the role of HSTFs in addressing human trafficking.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement. “The Homeland Security Task Force is the largest coordinated campaign against transnational criminal organizations in U.S. history, and I’m proud to co-lead it with Attorney General Bondi.”

“Through the Homeland Security Task Force, President Trump is taking the fight directly to human trafficking networks and disrupting their modern-day slave trade while seizing their assets and arresting their kingpins and foot soldiers. The American people should not have to live in fear of cartels, gang bangers, and foreign terrorists preying upon the most vulnerable among us,” the United States.

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