Waco Reporter

Since an uncovering of human trafficking of minors in 2017, Texas state leaders decided to take measures to combat the crime. 

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, while there have been some reforms that have come over the years, advocates of trafficking victims claim that there is still a good deal of work to do. 

“We uncovered state laws passed to create programs for victims that were never funded and identified a pipeline of victims who often came from the state’s foster care program and ended up in jail,” the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

Lawmakers in Texas did provide millions of dollars of funding towards a number of anti-trafficking initiatives and then in 2017 and 2019 directed even more money into the Child Protective Services and foster care systems, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. 

While the state may have directed funding in the right direction, a federal judge issued fines to Texas after they failed to carry out some reforms that were ordered in a lawsuit about civil rights of foster-care children, with a number of facilities saying that they needed more funds to complete their work. 

In his time in office, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has signed a number of bills and organized the Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council to help educate and care for victims. 

However, Abbott has failed to act consistently, many anti-trafficking advocates believe, when he vetoed a bill that decriminalized prostitution for minors. Abbott also vetoed HB 3078 that would have resulted in separate clemency panels to assess cases of sex-trafficking victims, as well as imprisoned abuse survivors.

Among the positive actions taken was the passage of HB 1, which directed over $58 million to state agencies working in the fight against human trafficking.

A number of local organizations are doing a great deal of work to support those who have escaped the human trafficking cycle, such as The Refuge Ranch, which offers therapy, schooling and accommodations for female victims, and the La Puerta emergency shelter for sex-trafficked minors for up to 90 days.