Remarks by President Trump in Signing Ceremony for S. 1862, the "Trafficking Victims Protection Re-authorization Act" | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Oval Office  •  January 9, 2019  •  12:01 P.M. EST

    THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate you being here. It hasn't been so long. Late last night. And we're having some very good times in our country. We're doing very well, except for the border. The border is a big problem. It's a very dangerous problem. And - so I can talk all about the job numbers and how well we're doing on the economy. The stock market is up. I guess now we're over 30 percent since the election.

    So many good things are happening, but we have to take care of the border. And we're all working together. I really believe the Democrats and the Republicans are working together. I think that something will happen. I hope. Otherwise, we'll go about it in a different manner. And I don't think we'll have to do that, but you never know.
President Trump signs the Trafficking Victims Protection Re-authorization Act: Above. (White House photo)     Click image to expand.
    In a few moments, I'll sign legislation continuing my administration's extensive efforts to combat the scourge of human trafficking. I spoke about it last night. Human trafficking. It really hits a nerve. We're talking about, in many cases, women and children grabbed, thrown into the backseat of a car, or thrown into a van with no windows, with no - any form of air. Tape put across their mouths. And they're brought across the border. And they don't go through checkpoints; they go through the emptiest spot they can find, with no walls, with no fences.

    I want to thank Vice President Pence, who's here; Secretary Nielsen; Acting Attorney General Whitaker; Secretary Azar; a woman known as Ivanka Trump. (Laughter.) She's a great one. Where's Ivanka? Good. Hi, Ivanka. (Applause.) She's worked very hard on this. This is very close to her heart. Deputy Secretary Sullivan; Administrator Green; Acting Director Vitiello; Assistant Secretary Johnson; and Ambassador Richmond for being here today. It's a group of people that has really, really worked, and they worked hard.


    I also want to recognize a great friend of mine, a man who's done so well and so popular in the state of Ohio, Rob Portman. Where's Rob? Great job, Rob. Appreciate it. And Senator Chris Coons, who, on occasion, we disagree, but I actually like him. (Laughter.) We pray together, right? That's a good step.

    Representatives Michael McCaul, my friend Susan Brooks, Ann Wagner, and Chris Smith. I signed Representative Smith's anti-trafficking bill yesterday that was just signed. And I want to thank you very much. You worked hard on it. We all worked hard on it. Anti-trafficking.

    And, you know, just so we understand, human trafficking now is bigger worldwide. This is not a U.S. situation; this is a world situation. Because of the Internet, far worse than it ever has been. You would think that was an ancient form of criminality. It's not. It's a very modern-day form. And because of the Internet, what they do with the Internet and how they find people through the Internet is disgraceful.

    We're also honored to be joined by many from law enforcement who fight this heinous crime every single day.

    Finally, I want to thank the inspiring advocates and survivors. And we have numerous of them with us, and maybe they'll say a few words.

    My administration has made the fight against human trafficking one of the highest priorities. Today's bill marks the fourth robust piece of bipartisan legislation - and it is bipartisan, I have to tell you; the Democrats have been great - that I've signed in just the last weeks. We have a couple of others here that are already signed, having to do with the same situation. Little different but all related. And it's just over the last couple of weeks that we've signed this. It's been a very strong priority but it's not easy getting everyone together.


    But this was, Chris, I would say, about as easy as it gets, because this is a problem that there is no definition of the other side. There's only one side. So I want to thank Democrats for helping us out with this one.

    But still, much work remains. We cannot defeat the menace of international human trafficking if we do not secure our border. They're bringing them through the border. That's where they're coming from in this part of the world. All over the world - but in this part of the world, they're bringing them through the border. They're driving in, and they're not going through checkpoints, because you can't have four or five people sitting in the back of a car with tape over your mouth and your hands tied, and go through somebody that's checking out your car or your van.

    Unsecure borders allow traffickers clear passage to transport their victims. And into the United States, it's very easy to come. All you do is drive 20 miles one way or the other, and you'll find an open spot where there's no protection, and then you'll go hundreds of miles where you'll see pure, open spots.

    In fiscal year 2018, ICE made more than 1,500 human trafficking arrests. Mostly sex trafficking.

    I'd like to ask Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband to say a few words about the recent case that dismantled a Mexican sex-trafficking organization that was brutal, that operated in the United States and horrendously abused young women from Latin America. A brutal, brutal situation.

    Could I ask Matt to say a few words?

    ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL WHITAKER: Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. I agree with you, human trafficking is a scourge on humanity, internationally and here in the United States. And it's something the Department of Justice is absolutely committed to ending and something for which we have leadership in the federal government and across the country in law enforcement to do all we can to prevent these horrific cases from happening.

    We're going to prosecute those that engage in these offenses, wherever we encounter them, and we will bring justice to the victims of these crimes.

    While human trafficking happens both internationally and domestically, undoubtedly, human trafficking - and the criminals who engage in it - significantly are aided by a porous and unsecure southern border. We need to be able to control those who are entering and leaving our country. And a southern border that is not secure exacerbates the incidence of human trafficking.

    There is broad bipartisan support, as we see here today, to end human trafficking. There should be broad bipartisan support to secure the southern border so that we can more effectively combat human trafficking.

    We need a secure southern border, and we need Congress to do something about it. I'm going to turn to Eric Dreiband, our Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, to talk a little bit about a case that we just announced, some convictions. And I also want to introduce Rich Donoghue, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, whose office prosecuted that case.

    So, go ahead, Eric.

    MR. DREIBAND: Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, thank you for prioritizing the prosecution of human trafficking here in the United States. The case that Acting Attorney General Whitaker mentioned was a very complicated, long-running human trafficking case where Mexican nationals were engaged in trafficking young girls and women across the border, smuggling these women across the border, into the United States, and forcing them into prostitution.

    Working with the United States Attorney's Office in Brooklyn and in Atlanta, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department attained convictions of eight of these individuals. And earlier this week, five of the eight were sentenced to extensive prison sentences. In addition, we are now working with the victims in this case and in all others, the victims of human trafficking, whose lives have been devastated by these kinds of horrible crimes. So, thank you, Mr. President.

    THE PRESIDENT: And thank you very much, Eric. And Rich also, because Rich has done an incredible job of not only prosecution but other things that are coming up. And maybe you'd say a few words.


    MR. DONOGHUE: We have a tremendous team in Brooklyn and across the Eastern District of New York. But every day we go to work, we see the results of having a border that's not secure, whether it's MS-13, drug trafficking, or human trafficking that we're talking about today.

    Our folks get up every day, work with our law enforcement partners diligently, and protect the victims and protect our country. But the reality is, as long as we a have border that is not secure, we are going to suffer the consequences of that.

    And so, stepping forward, we think that it would be a tremendous advantage to us in law enforcement, in New York and across the country, to have a border that is secure so we can protect our people and protect our country.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good job. Thank you.

    The fact is that if we don't have barriers, walls - call them what you want - but if we don't have very strong barriers, where people cannot any longer drive right across - they have unbelievable vehicles. They make a lot of money. They have the best vehicles you can buy. They have stronger, bigger, and faster vehicles than our police have, and than ICE has, and than Border Patrol has. So they're pretty good at that. They have areas that they go to. It's like a highway. And we have to close them up. And if we don't close them up, you're all kidding yourselves.

    Look, we can all play games, but a wall is a necessity. All of the other things - the sensors and the drones - it's all wonderful to have and it works well, but only if you have the wall. If you don't have the wall, it doesn't matter. A drone isn't stopping a thousand people from running through. And so we can all talk. And, you know, interestingly, if you look, virtually every Democrat over the last 15 years, they've approved what we're asking for.

    So I think we're doing something. I think we're getting closer. But we really have to think about the people of our country. This is not a fight I wanted. I didn't want this fight. We have to think about the people of our country, and we have to do what's right at our border and many other places. But we have to do what's right at our border.

    Human trafficking cannot be stopped if we don't have a steel barrier or a concrete wall - something very powerful. It cannot be stopped. There is nothing. We have the most talented law enforcement people in the world, as far as I'm concerned, right alongside of me and behind me. It doesn't mean a thing if they're going to be driving women and children through sections of the border where nobody is, where you can't be because you don't have enough manpower or womanpower. You don't have enough of anything. You have 2,000 miles of border.