Sanctuary states like California have laws expressly forbidding the sharing of information – or any form of state and local cooperation – with federal immigration officials. While it’s well documented that sanctuary policies have resulted in thousands of criminal aliens being released back onto the streets instead of being deported, there’s much more to the story that has yet to be told, and it’s a very dark and troubling story indeed.
Law enforcement who are forced by sanctuary policies to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration could also be forced by those same laws to turn a blind eye to human slavery and forced prostitution, says Texas Sheriff A.J. Louderback. He noted that alien smuggling is quite common in Texas, and thankfully the state’s strong anti-sanctuary policies allow police to fully investigate a suspect’s immigration status.
“Police are the eyes and ears of the community,” says Louderback. “When they are prevented from looking into suspicious activities because of sanctuary policies, then the community becomes less safe and innocent people can be hurt and exploited.”
Sadly, the United States is a major destination country for thousands of children, men and women from all over the world who are being trafficked for various end uses, including sexual exploitation, labor exploitation and slavery. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ICE recently uncovered a sexual slavery ring in the sanctuary city of Los Angeles where 15 women and girls were forced by a family-run human trafficking organization into prostitution.
The lure of trafficking in illegal immigrants, according to ICE, is that “victims often find themselves in a foreign country and cannot speak the language. Traffickers frequently take away the victims’ travel and identity documents, telling them that if they attempt to escape, the victims or their families back home will be harmed, or the victims’ families will assume the debt.”
As the Hoover Institution notes, sanctuary policies actually protect illegal aliens from federal immigration officials in a way that is not true for Americans, or foreign visitors who legally enter the country through airports. “American citizens who arrive at airports and must go through customs, with no exemption from federal agents examining their passports and personal histories. If crimes or infractions are found, there is no safe space at an airport exempt from federal enforcement.”