ATLANTA — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport officials and Atlanta leaders took a stance in combating human trafficking on Thursday at a news conference.
“This is an evil blight in our world,” Airport General Manager Balram Bheodari said. “It costs, and it ruins a lot of lives worldwide.”
Leaders held the event as the National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month comes to an end.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Georgia was one of the top 10 states in the country with the highest human trafficking numbers.
According to the mayor, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) allegedly said human trafficking is one of the most profitable illegal crimes than the drug trade. UNICEF also said that children are more likely to become victims of the crime.
“If there is one thing that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree on, is that the bad actors who profit... off exploiting other human beings, including our children, will find no sanctuary here in Georgia,” Dickens said.
Attorney General Chris Carr also spoke at the news conference, where he emphasized the measures taken in Operation Not Forgotten. It’s an annual operation in Georgia conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit with a mission of rescuing endangered missing children.
In 2020, a 17-year-old girl was found in the Travelodge just off Interstate 75 in College Park. The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit immediately started working on the case, trying to find the individuals who were selling and buying the teen.
As of last November, 13 people are behind bars for her alleged trafficking.
“There are those in our society who are buying and selling children for sex, and when they do, they destroy a child’s life,” said the attorney general.
Carr added that with collaborations with law enforcement, they are attempting to hold buyers in the human trafficking industry more accountable.
Federal officials also attended Thursday’s event, where they highlighted efforts like the Human Trafficking Victims Protections Act, which makes victims eligible for certain programs and cracking down on those involved.
The attorney general also announced efforts to work with the Atlanta Police Department’s Gang Prosecution Unit in efforts to fight against the issue. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said he believes gang members could have possible ties to human trafficking cases.
You can re-watch the press conference below.
The national human trafficking hotline is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. People can call 888-373-7888 for guidance or text INFO to 233733.