On a mild February day in 2019, when the majority of Washington, DC, (and the world at-large) was focused on the impending Mueller Report being released at any moment, President Donald Trump was focused on something else: saving children.
To the right of the president sat Tim Ballard, a former special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the founder of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), an organization with the mission to rescue and rehabilitate victims of human trafficking. At the president’s invitation, Ballard was there to discuss the ongoing fight against human trafficking along the southern border.
Turning to Trump, Ballard recounted a heinous story: “They brought this little girl through a part of the southern border where there was no wall. Easily got her to New York City – and this is hard to hear, but it’s the truth – where this little girl was raped for money every day 30 to 40 times a day.”
By the time Ballard left the West Wing later that day, President Trump had appointed him to spearhead his White House Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking. To date, Ballard and his team have rescued over 3,000 victims, leading to the arrest of 182 human traffickers. They are now the subject of the unlikely summer box office hit, Sound of Freedom, starring Jim Caviezel as Ballard.
This independently funded film has stunned the Hollywood community by beating mega-monied movies like Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to become the top grossing film of the coveted Fourth of July weekend, despite being shown in nearly 2,000 fewer theaters and only in the United States.
Last week, President Trump and Tim Ballard continued their fight by raising awareness with a private screening of the Hollywood-shunned movie at Trump National Bedminster, New Jersey.
I was honored to attend the same alongside them. The film is shocking to the core and left us all standing in stunned silence upon its conclusion, including Trump himself.
A special screening of the blockbuster film “Sound of Freedom” at former President Donald Trump’s club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“Sound of Freedom” movie poster on display at the film’s private screening at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey on July 19, 2023. (David Ng/Breitbart News)
Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. Today, there are over 50 million victims of human trafficking globally. That’s nearly one in every 150 people. $150 billion in profits are generated annually by the selling and buying people. That’s $5,000 per second. Eighty percent of trafficking victims are between the ages of 13–25 years old. The average age is 12.
“Why is human trafficking the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world?” asks actor Jim Caviezel as Ballard, rhetorically in the film. “Because you can only sell a bag of cocaine once. But you can sell a 5-year-old child 10 times a day for 10 years straight,” he flatly answers.
Today, Joe Biden and his reckless immigration policies have arguably triggered the largest human trafficking crisis in the world. The Department of Homeland Security admitted to losing nearly 100,000 migrant children released into the United States last year alone. By undoing 62 Trump executive orders in his first 100 days, including 10 reversals of Trump’s historic immigration policies, Biden turned the U.S. border into one of the most porous in the world with over five million migrants (and counting) crossing the southern border since he took office.
Watch: Sound of Freedom’s Tim Ballard: The Biden Administration Is “Facilitating the Trafficking of Children”
Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News
On Day One, Trump has pledged to reinstate Title 42, which the Biden administration inexplicably reversed, now forcing all migrant children to be released into the interior of the United States at the mercy of these predators. Trump used Title 42 in part to ensure all trafficked children can be immediately and safely returned to their own families in their own countries where they belong.
Migrants walk along a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border before the lifting of Title 42 on May 9, 2023, in Yuma, Arizona. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
President Trump has been a vocal advocate for ending human trafficking, and his administration took significant steps to combat this issue.
The meeting between Tim Ballard and President Trump was a testament to their shared commitment to eradicating this modern-day slavery. Not only did President Trump voice the need for stricter legislation, harsher penalties for traffickers, and increased funding for victim support programs, he stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of human trafficking, such as poverty, lack of education, and political instability, to effectively combat this crime. And he acted upon the same.
In February 2017, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking. This order directed federal agencies to prioritize combating human trafficking and increase efforts to dismantle criminal organizations involved in trafficking. In it, Trump highlighted potential strategies to strengthen international cooperation in combating human trafficking and the importance of establishing strong partnerships with countries affected by this issue, sharing intelligence, and coordinating efforts to apprehend traffickers and rescue victims.
President Donald Trump listens to Operation Underground Railroad CEO Tim Ballard (left) during a meeting on fighting human trafficking on the southern border on February 1, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Jim WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting on fighting human trafficking on the southern border on February 1, 2019, in Washington, DC. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Additionally, President Trump signed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) in April 2018. FOSTA aimed to hold websites accountable for facilitating sex trafficking by amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which previously shielded websites from legal liability for user-generated content. This new legislation made it easier for law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute websites involved in human trafficking, including Backpage.
President Trump’s efforts to combat human trafficking were not limited to legislation alone. His administration actively engaged with international partners to address this issue. In September 2018, President Trump hosted the Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem at the United Nations General Assembly. During this event, he called on world leaders to join the United States in combatting human trafficking, which often intertwines with drug trafficking.
Furthermore, President Trump established the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. This task force, comprising various federal agencies, aimed to coordinate efforts, share information, and develop strategies to combat human trafficking effectively. Under its auspices, the Department of Justice launched the Joint Agency Task Force to combat online trafficking (JATT).
Arguably, the most significant achievement of President Trump’s administration in combating human trafficking was the shutdown of Backpage. Backpage was a notorious website that facilitated sex trafficking, allowing individuals to post ads for illicit services, including the exploitation of minors. In April 2018, Trump’s Department of Justice seized and shut down Backpage, resulting in the indictment of seven individuals associated with the website. This landmark action sent a strong message to all perpetrators that the United States and Trump administration would not tolerate platforms that facilitate sex trafficking.
This screen grab image obtained April 9, 2018, shows that backpage.com and affiliated websites that have been seized by the FBI in Washington, DC. (AFP via Getty Images)
President Trump’s commitment to combating human trafficking continued throughout his time in office. In 2020, he signed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which enhanced efforts to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers. This bipartisan legislation reflected a commitment to a sustained effort in eradicating this heinous crime.
Ironically, Tim Ballard is not President Trump’s only direct connection to the Sound of Freedom movie. Mexican producer and actor, Eduardo Verastegui, is Jim Caviezel’s co-star and executive producer of the $125 million blockbuster hit. In 2020, President Trump appointed Verastegui to his Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity.
Eduardo Verastegui, founder of Movimiento Viva Mexico, speaks at CPAC on March 4, 2023, in National Harbor, Maryland. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In a story reminiscent of a movie itself, the hit film was shelved by Disney when they acquired Fox Searchlight Pictures in 2019, choosing instead to invest in woke, big-budget flops like The Little Mermaid and Lightyear. Not until a small, yet determined group of angel investors, including Verastegui, Oscar-winning actor and director, Mel Gibson and self-help guru, Tony Robbins, bought the movie rights back from Disney for a mere $14 million, did its critical message see the light of day.
But Trump is not finished. There is more work to be done. More children to be saved.
More humans are trapped in slavery today than at any other time in history, including when it was legal.
As actor Bill Camp powerfully declares in the film: “When God tells you what to do, you cannot hesitate.”
Donald J. Trump never hesitated to leave a private life of immeasurable success and comfort to run for president and carry this critical mantle for God’s children.
Watch: “Sound of Freedom” Producer Eduardo Verastegui: “God’s Children Are NOT for Sale”
Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News
But just was they categorically dismissed Trump in 2016 and even today, the mainstream media has categorically dismissed the unprecedented success of the Sound of Freedom as “undeserved” and “illegitimate.” They begrudgingly attribute the movie’s box-office insurgence to the same far-right MAGA movement that steadfastly continues to support Donald J. Trump for President.
Labeling the film “divisive” and geared toward the “conspiracy-addled boomer,” most major film critics have boycotted the Sound of Freedom despite its undeniable success, including the Los Angeles Times.
Most notably, The Guardian unapologetically referred to the child rape victims depicted in the film as a “dirty-faced moppets.” Rolling Stone mocked Sound of Freedom viewers and downplayed the clear and present crisis of the child sex industry.
Imagine being on the wrong side of child trafficking.
Imagine being on the wrong side of history. Again.
Lynne Patton with President Donald Trump
Lynne Patton currently serves as Senior Advisor to the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. and was a Presidential Appointee under Secretary Benjamin S. Carson at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.