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The heartbreaking images of minors at the southern border, alone and clutching nothing more than a piece of paper, have become tragically familiar. According to border patrol data, since President Biden took office in 2021, nearly 540,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended at the southern border. Many of these children fall prey to sex traffickersfacing unimaginable conditions and exploitation.
Fox News recently spoke with a 20-year-old sex trafficking survivor, whose identity we agreed to withhold for his safety. He still lives in fear that his captors will find him. Trafficked from South America to Mexico and then across the border, he was finally rescued at the age of 18 and brought to Bob’s House of Hope.
Bob’s House of Hope is the country’s first safe house dedicated specifically to male survivors of sex trafficking. The victim shared heartbreaking details of her experience: she was trafficked six to eight times a day, beaten and threatened with death if she dared to speak out.
“I saw good people die,” he said.
An immigrant sex trafficking survivor speaks to Fox News. (Fox News)
Bob Williams, the founder of the safe house, was inspired to create this shelter after his own experiences.
“They just feel like this is happening to girls and women,” Williams said. “And that’s the problem. That’s the stigma that we have to change. The fact is that we believe that up to 50% of human trafficking victims are boys and men.”
Bob’s House of Hope welcomes both American citizens and immigrants. He works with law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
“As a survivor, I said we would take anyone because these children who are immigrants are protected by the Federal Sex Trafficking Act,” Williams explained.
Surprisingly, many victims of Bob’s House of Hope have been trafficked by their own families, considered nothing more than dollar signs.
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“Most of these kids are trafficked by someone they know, whether it’s an uncle, a neighbor or someone else,” Williams said.
Williams describes a disturbing cycle: many immigrants are trafficked during the day and then forced to work sex trafficking at night.
A common question he says he hears is, “Why can’t children escape?” He explains that not only are they threatened with violence, but they are also controlled through addiction, specifically fentanyl.
About $4 million worth of fentanyl seized by the Los Angeles police is found on a table. Human traffickers intentionally foster fentanyl addiction in their victims, which they then use as another method to control them, Bob Williams said. (Los Angeles police)
“This fentanyl problem is so serious that it hooks these young people into drugs,” he said. “That, combined with the fear of threats against their families, is controlling.”
A recent report from the Office of the Inspector General revealed that ICE lost track of tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors in recent years alone. Williams has no doubt that many of these children have been trafficked.
“We know that many of these children were sold by their families to gangs or trafficking groups,” he said. “Predators prey on vulnerable children. We had a case in which a young man was trying to reunite with his family in Florida and was detained by a gang under the pretext of taking him to Miami. But that trip never materialized.”
The mission of Bob’s House of Hope is to help heal the trauma these young people have experienced. The program lasts four years and offers housing, a safe space with therapy, animals and education.
Bob Williams founded Bob’s House of Hope to help male victims of sex trafficking. (Fox News)
Once completed, the goal is for them to transition to independent living, equipped with a car, a job, and the opportunity to go to college.
Landon Dickeson, COO of Bob’s House of Hope and therapist, sheds light on the challenges these young immigrants face.
“From birth, they were often rejected by their parents and grandparents, often sold for money to be taken to the United States for further abuse,” Dickeson explained. “They come here confused, they don’t speak the language and they have difficulty navigating our systems, which makes them incredibly vulnerable.”
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The survivor we spoke to expressed gratitude for the sense of family and comfort he found in the safe house, and the hope for a better life.
“All I can say is don’t lose hope, don’t give up. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Williams believes that along with strengthen border securityThere should be tougher penalties for traffickers and complicit family members, as well as increased funding for programs like yours that support victims.
