President Bukele Ends Human Trafficking

from El Salvador

U.S. Congressional Candidate Jerry Torres Advocated

 the End of Trafficking with Salvadoran Leaders

By Jerry Torres, U.S. Army Veteran and FL-14 GOP Congressional Candidate

There’s a little-known success story coming out of El Salvador, a Central American nation wedged between Guatemala and Honduras: What was once a hotbed of human trafficking is no longer.

I am proud to have worked with El Salvadoran political and law enforcement leaders to end human smuggling from El Salvador to the United States. In this process, I have seen just how wrong the prevailing narrative about illegal immigration is in our own country.

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that most migrants are desperate people grasping at their last shot at a comfortable life. In my work with high-level officials in El Salvador, plus speaking with migrants in caravans headed north, I have seen that the opposite is true: The traffickers go after people with the ability to pay the hefty fee for a spot in the caravan. One convicted human trafficker told me that adults pay $8,000 and, young women and children, $14,000 for the trip.

It’s also a myth that traffickers operate in the shadows. Traffickers of both humans and drugs run their operations like businesses. They target potential clients on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, and they use some of the same business software as Fortune 500 companies.

The trip is a treacherous one, so the people who take it are generally young and reasonably fit. Many of them have college or technical degrees, certifications, or profitable occupations in the trades. Educated and trained technicians and professionals flooding out of El Salvador, and countries like it, have caused a massive “brain and labor drain” that harms their nations of origin.

Public officials see this happening, and they’re eager to put a stop to it. I have been so impressed by El Salvadoran President Bukele’s team and their willingness to crack down on bad actors.

This year, the government declared a state of emergency and arrested 17,000 people involved in all forms of trafficking including the top 14 human trafficking cartel leaders. This unprecedented effort is paying off; the El Salvadoran people are safer today than they were a year ago. The United States is benefitting from reduced human trafficking at the border – at least, from one country that did the right thing.

Unfortunately, transnational actors from China and surrounding nations keep marketing to El Salvadorans in social media to make the trip, and today, 700 illegals mostly from Honduras and Guatemala will meet in Guatemala on July 20 to form the newest caravan headed to our border.

This group will not be walking. Instead, they will be cruising in luxury liner buses with air conditioning, internet, and streaming video as the next president of Guatemala, Carlos Pineda, and I witnessed during our recent visit to the border between Honduras and Guatemala. Pineda, like Bukele, is determined to end illegal immigration to the U.S. to keep their human talent at home.

El Salvador’s path to this success would have been far smoother if not for the Biden administration’s blunders. When Vice President Harris traveled to Central America, supposedly to address the “root causes” of immigration, she offered El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras each a cut of a $5 billion package in exchange for their support of the Democrats’ policy positions. Local leaders saw right through the scheme.

Bukele rejected her offer outright, and instead is working with South Korea to obtain a loan to build infrastructure and boost his country’s economy. He shouldn’t have to look on the other side of the world for help; America should offer him the cooperation he needs rather than attempt to buy his loyalty with your tax dollars.

Several of the top El Salvadoran officials with whom I have spoken make no secret of their opinions on the current administration. Many have told me they miss President Trump, because they knew he was a straight shooter whom they could trust. Some of them are purposefully waiting to engage further with the United States until Republicans are in power. I am running for Congress not only to put an end to runaway inflation, but to secure our border, uphold the rule of law, and restore America’s standing on the world stage.

Democrats and their media allies would have you believe that their approach is the compassionate one, that they help people by allowing them to flood across our southern border.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Border crossings fund criminal cartels, people die trying to make the trip and Mexican cartels force the migrants to carry bundles of newly produced fentanyl through porous US border crossing areas.

There is nothing compassionate about funding criminal enterprises and enticing people to take a trek that could kill them and that feeds fentanyl into our country to kill our citizens. We should all be glad that President Bukele and his administration’s efforts to end human smuggling in El Salvador have paid off.

American media has been loath to report this success, simply because it exposes the Democrats’ ineptitude at handling both illegal immigration and foreign affairs. The truth is, solutions are out there – I’ve had the honor of helping to make some of them happen.

Sponsored Post- Paid for by the Jerry Torres for Congress Campaign