In today’s world we like to pretend that we have vanquished the evils of slavery, yet there are more people enslaved today than at any other time in human history.  Human trafficking and sex trafficking are rampant in America and around the world.  China, who employs slave labor, retains most favored nation trading status with the U.S. and Disney is planning a new theme park in Abu Dabi which also has slave labor.

The previous administration’s boarder policies created a massive influx of illegal immigrants into America enriching the cartels who are some of the largest human traffickers in the world.  In many ways this was the largest human trafficking scheme in world history. The consequences of this deliberate policy will haunt this nation for many decades to come. In 2018, the United States had an estimate of 403,000 slaves. The 2023 estimate places the United States at number 10 on the list of countries with an estimated 1.1 million slaves in this county. That is more than double. According to the Global Slavery Index, the number of slaves in the world increased from 40.3 million in 2018 to 50 million in 2021. This is nearly an increase of 10 million in just three years. America is the number one purchaser of products made by slave labor (measured by money spent), with electronics taking the top spot in our purchases. The numbers are absolutely heartbreaking. They tear at the fabric of our souls.

Children are at Risk

According to the Global Slavery Index:

“Children in the Americas are at particularly high risk of all forms of modern slavery. They have been recruited as soldiers in protracted civil conflicts in Colombia and Venezuela, resulting in long-lasting trauma. Child recruitment by armed groups, gangs, and organized crime has increased in the region, impacting children in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and El Salvador. Moreover, children are reportedly involved in hazardous labour in industries such as mining in gold and tin, drug trafficking, and agriculture, most notably in cotton, cattle, fishing, and tobacco. Commercial sexual exploitation of children occurs in the region. In the Caribbean, sex tourism, particularly involving children remains an issue, with sex tourists, primarily from the US, seeking to exploit children in countries such as Belize. UN estimates reveal that child marriage is prevalent in the region with 22 per cent of women between ages 20 and 24 having been married before the age of 18 years. In the US, recent research estimated that 300,000 children were married between 2000 and 2018.

Seasonal, temporary, and undocumented workers in the agricultural sector are vulnerable to forced labour, including workers in higher-income countries such as the US and Canada. This is particularly true in informal or rural labour contexts where there are limited regulations and few labour inspections. Forced labour in US supply chains remains an issue in the Americas, with agricultural workers in countries that supply products to the US market vulnerable to exploitation. Moreover, there are reports of compulsory prison labour in public and private prisons in Brazil and the US.”

Christian Responsibilities

Eric Metaxas wrote in his book letter to the American church, “Our responsibilities as Christians go beyond mere “evangelism.” We pretend we would have spoken out for the Jews in Bonhoeffer’s day, or that we would have spoken against the slave trade in Wilberforce’s day, but are we speaking out on the issues that are no less important to God in our time? If not, we are deceiving ourselves. But God is not deceived.

Critical thinking tells us that the dramatic increase in the number of slaves in the United States is linked to the policies of the previous administration.

We are all made in God’s image and the Lord shows no partiality, so we must recognize the innate value in every human being. We cannot show partiality, even when the person came here illegally.  That doesn’t mean that we should not deport those who came here illegally. It means that we have two responsibilities: one, deport them in a humane way and two, do the work to prevent this type of human trafficking in the future.

What is the Biblical Worldview on Slavery

The Biblical Worldview on slavery is that it is a great evil, but what are we doing about it?  If we do nothing, if we continue to do things that support it, are we not just as guilty?

From a policy perspective, we need to reevaluate how we choose our trading partners, stop illegal immigration into America, wipe out the cartels, punish the businesses who employ child labor, and eliminate the incentives that bring illegal immigration here.  We need to work to change our immigration system so that it doesn’t enrich the cartels, encourages legal immigration and charges the system to one built on merit. Data tells us that legal immigrants are some of the most law abiding in this country.

The policies we support and the laws we enact should be judged not on their intentions but rather on their outcomes.

From a personal perspective, we need to urge our politicians to enact the policies above. More importantly, we need to do our best to not buy products that come from countries that employ slave labor. We think of our phones and computers as being some of the most common products made by slave labor, but there are other products that are just as tainted.  “Modern slavery risks permeate every step of solar panel supply chains — from the collection of quartz through to the manufacture of solar panel modules.” – Global Slavery Index

Start With Your Neighbor

Leviticus 19:18 tells us to love our neighbor, but who is our neighbor?  A closer reading of Leviticus 19 tells us that our neighbor is close to us. We live near them.  For example, Leviticus 19:13, “You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him.” Leviticus 19:17, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him.”

The policies of the previous administration brought a massive influx of illegal immigration.  The obvious, logical consequences of those policies were a massive increase in sexual assault, sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and lawlessness. The previous administration even lost over 325,000 children, most likely to child exploitation and prostitution.

Additional logical consequences include harm to the poor in this country, higher prices and more crime. Illegal immigrants compete with the poor for low end jobs. They impact the housing shortage by increasing demand. All of these are harmful to the neighbor that God tells us to love.

North Idaho is not Immune

Dan Wilson interviewed Nate Lewis of The Innocent about what they do to help police stop and catch child sex traffickers. The Innocent trains officers in how to create stings where they can catch these child predators and human traffickers.

Nate describes how they worked with local police and federal agents to run an “Ad” in Kootenai County for a 14-year-old twice. On the second time they ran the “Ad”, within ten minutes there were four people that believed they were communicating with a 14-year-old. Within 24 hours that number jumped to sixty-one and within one week there were more than two-hundred unique phone numbers that were communicating with what they believed was a child. They did not continue with the investigation because they were getting an idea of what the landscape was like. They also wanted to get the supervisors involved in supporting this mission.

Nate mentioned that he believes the most dangerous place for children is online and that if we aren’t looking at it, we are missing a lot. The fact that the internet is used for recruitment and manipulation of children is also reflected in The Global Slavery Index.

Resources:

• Dan Wilson interview with Nate Lewis of The Innocent 
• The Innocent Website
• Idaho’s Human Trafficking Law
• 2016 Global Slavery Index
• 2018 Global Slavery Index

The opinions expressed by contributing authors or Op-Ed submissions to the Liberty Without Compromise Network do not necessarily reflect those of the founders of LWC, the hosts of the Liberty Without Compromise broadcast, or Dan Wilson for Kootenai County Sheriff. It is LWC's position to offer a forum for the marketplace of ideas, discussion, and at times, opposing viewpoints. With this in mind, the comment section contained in this website is open for all ideas and viewpoints provided the discussion remain productive and respectful of others.