January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month — an important time to increase awareness of one of the most heinous but hidden crimes facing our modern world. While this crime and the illegal enterprises that sustain it feel like they only exist on movie and television screens or in the shadows of distant communities, human trafficking plays out coast to coast, including right here in our state.

Worldwide, an estimated 27.6 million people are trafficking victims. In the United States, it has been reported and documented in all 50 states with Arkansas alone seeing 80 cases in 2024 that involved 153 victims, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. 

This form of modern-day slavery encompasses the exploitation and transport of people for forced labor and sexual abuse. Anyone can become a victim, and many are often hiding in plain sight. For this reason, human trafficking is especially pervasive and requires coordinated efforts across the local, state and federal levels to combat it while also ensuring each victim can be identified, rescued and receive proper care. 

Natural State law enforcement agencies acknowledge that our rural nature and highway infrastructure make it even more critical for the public to recognize the signs of this crime and how to report it. Suspected human trafficking can always be reported to the Arkansas State Police anonymously via email to reportht@arkansas.gov or by calling *277.

Congress has also made strides to protect our communities. I was proud to champion a $500,000 provision in the Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. This funding will assist the Arkansas State Police with law enforcement investigation hardware, software, and tools needed to solve internet crimes involving online child sex abuse and human trafficking. Further, the House of Representatives has passed a measure that would appropriate $100 million to combat human trafficking worldwide. The Senate is expected to take this up in the coming weeks, and I look forward to the opportunity to support the bill in the Senate. 

Throughout the years, landmark legislation has been continually reauthorized and funded to prevent and combat trafficking. However, criminal organizations and gangs easily exploited open-border policies under the previous administration, creating an unmitigated flow of weapons, narcotics and human trafficking victims across our southern border.

Fortunately, the Working Families Tax Cuts, signed into law by President Trump with my support, secured historic levels of funding to protect our border and cut off illegal and inhumane organized crime that took advantage of the opportunity to further smuggle weapons, deadly drugs and trafficked captives. By prioritizing America’s border security, Senate Republicans are continuing to make progress defending cities in Arkansas and nationwide from this scourge and disrupting established human trafficking networks. 

With commonsense support from Congress and the White House, the Department of Homeland Security had a year of actionable success in 2025, recovering hundreds of victims. Further, the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border — many of whom would have increased likelihood of falling victim to human trafficking — reached record lows. In 2025 alone, the Department of Homeland Security identified and saved hundreds of victims, demonstrating a commitment to protecting the most vulnerable through accountability and deterrence.  

During January and year-round, education and awareness of this pervasive criminal enterprise and its tragic consequences are the most effective means to curb it. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues, the Trump administration and our law enforcement to strengthen partnerships and initiatives at every level to safeguard our most vulnerable and maintain Arkansas’s commitment to eradicating trafficking and holding perpetrators accountable.