"These children come in in debt to vicious cartels thousands and thousands of dollars. The teenage boys work for the gangs in every city in America, and the teenage girls experience a hell worse than that, with far too many of them human trafficked into sex slavery," Cruz says in the video. "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are responsible for the worst plague of slavery in America since the Civil War."
SO, being senator of Texas, WTF are YOU doing?
As The Texas Tribune previously reported in our
“Sold Out” series, state leaders’ bold campaign promises about ending sex trafficking proved hollow on closer inspection. 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.
In the three years since, state leaders have made serious reforms to some of the issues we reported on, though advocates say there’s still a long way to go.
Texas lawmakers have funded anti-trafficking efforts with millions of dollars and in 2017 and 2019 poured millions of new dollars into the state’s Child Protective Services and foster care systems.
But to the dismay of many anti-trafficking advocates, Abbott vetoed a bill decriminalizing prostitution for children because he said it would create “unintended consequences” — such as encouraging traffickers to use underage prostitutes so they would not get arrested. He also vetoed House Bill 3078, which sought to establish a separate clemency panel to review cases of jailed abuse survivors and sex-trafficking victims.
nstead, in February, he announced a new clemency application allowing people convicted of crimes to tell the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles about their experiences with human trafficking or domestic violence. The board makes recommendations to the governor, who can pardon inmates.
“The gubernatorial pardon plays an important role in this redemption process, because it offers a second chance to survivors with criminal convictions resulting from their abuse or exploitation,” Abbott said in a press release.
Abbott and Cruz, naturally blame others for their 'shortcomings".