AG Jennings Leads Bipartisan Coalition of Attorneys General for Stronger Efforts Against Human Trafficking
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch are leading a bipartisan coalition of 40 state and territory attorneys general urging the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to require better cooperation with local law enforcement from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Jennings says that people who call a publicly funded reporting hotline deserve to know their reports are making it to law enforcement. Polaris’ has failed to carry out that mission – and it needs to be fixed. Polaris has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline since 2007 – but it was recently discovered that Polaris was failing to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement except in limited circumstances and in some cases there has been a delay of months before the Hotline shared tips with states.
Applications for a new award for hotline funding due by May 2nd.
Additional information from the AG’s release:
“Human trafficking victims can’t afford to wait while an operator decides their case is worthy,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings (D-DE). “People who call a publicly funded reporting hotline deserve to know that their reports are making it to law enforcement. Polaris’ failure to carry out that mission is unacceptable. This is a bipartisan priority, and we’re asking DHHS to be our partner in protecting victims and finding traffickers before they can cover their tracks. We need to fix this — and we need to fix it now.”
“Local law enforcement needs third-party tips to end trafficking and help its victims,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-MS). “Polaris’ refusal to share this vital intelligence has severely impacted the value of the National Hotline for victims of human trafficking. As the Hotline award comes up for review, we need the Department of Health and Human Services to be our partner in restoring this function of the Hotline so we do not lose one more person due to this gap in reporting.”
Since 2007, Polaris has operated the National Human Trafficking Hotline with millions of dollars in funding authorized by Congress. States rely on the Hotline to forward third-party tips of suspected human trafficking to local law enforcement to arrest traffickers, safely recover victims, and uncover evidence of trafficking rings and operations. It was recently discovered that Polaris was failing to forward third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement except in limited circumstances. Additionally, states have often discovered a delay of even several months before the Hotline shared those tips with states.
This practice is contrary to what Polaris itself advertises, to what states and organizations have come to expect from this partnership, and, the attorneys general believe, to what Congress expects from its funding. In February 2023, a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general asked for Congress to require the Hotline to report these third-party tips to local law enforcement. As a result, then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated that the agency was “incorporating additional language in the next [award notice] outlining specific coordination requirements with law enforcement.”
HHS is currently seeking applicants for a new award of this funding, with applications due May 2, 2025. That notice of funding opportunity does require the Hotline operator to develop a plan for working with law enforcement.
In the letter, the attorneys general write: “As you consider applicants, we urge you to ensure that the organization that is awarded the grant for the National Human Trafficking Hotline demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips. We have worked hard to teach the public the signs of trafficking and how to report it when they think they see it. But sending the public to the Hotline when they see someone in trouble is futile if the organization running it refuses to share those tips and share them in a timely manner.”
The attorneys general continue: “To be clear, we are not asking that the Hotline report calls from victims who say they do not want their call reported. But we are asking them to send us the tips they get from anyone other than the victim. We are asking for the tips from the trucker who sees suspicious behavior on the road, the flight attendant who notices something unusual in the airport, the front desk clerk who sees something that does not make sense at their motel, or the citizen who sees the same woman being abused at the corner market week after week. Those tips matter, and reporting those tips can save lives.”
In addition to AGs Jennings and Fitch, the letter was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.