Bill aims to reduce human trafficking in Texas

Savannah Whitmer, Lead Reporter

Texas Senator John Cornyn and other lawmakers will introduce the Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Act on Tuesday, which, according to the Dallas News, would “increase resources available to law enforcement, ramp up penalties and expand services for victims of sex exploitation and other kinds of human trafficking.”

One of the top 14 cities involved in human sex trafficking, Dallas is a major factor in the 27 million people trafficked worldwide.

“There is something really wrong when we have 45,000 missing kids in our state and no one knows about it,” executive director of Traffick 911 Deena Graves said. “There are some huge, huge issues here that we have to get to the root of.”

The bill would be taking a step towards an increase in public awareness of the modern day slavery and would work for the justice of men, women, and children exploited.

“We must work together, at every level of government, to equip law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on human traffickers,”Cornyn said of the Human Trafficking Reporting Act he introduced in February. “Our bill will aid Texas and other state and local governments as they battle organized criminal syndicates and violent gangs that traffic humans for labor and sex.”

Cornyn has been a supporter of many bills combating human trafficking since 2004.

“We have to make human trafficking unprofitable,” he said in September. “We have to make the consequences such that people simply don’t want to risk it.”