The Trump administration has consistently declared combating sex trafficking a top priority. However, investigations have slowed, and prosecutions have decreased over the past six months, impacted by staffing shortages, budget cuts, intensified immigration enforcement, and growing victim distrust of the government. This is based on interviews with former prosecutors, current agents, victim advocates, and a review of federal court records.
Jacqueline Kelley, a former federal prosecutor who led the prosecution of rapper and actor Sean “Diddy” Combs—convicted last year on two counts of transportation for prostitution—emphasized the contradiction between stated priorities and resource allocation. “You cannot claim something is a priority without providing the necessary resources,” she noted.
Federal prosecutions for sex trafficking have fallen to their slowest rate since 2010. By June, the Justice Department had charged 73 individuals, approximately 22 percent fewer than the average for the first half of the previous three years. Related charges also declined: 1,230 people were charged with child pornography violations, down 3 percent, and 318 with Mann Act violations, which target interstate prostitution, down 18 percent compared to recent averages.
These declines reflect a broader shift in federal law enforcement priorities under President Donald Trump, who has reduced agency budgets and emphasized immigration enforcement. Charges for non-immigration-related crimes, including tax evasion and drug trafficking, dropped 7 percent through June, totaling about 22,000 cases.
In a significant development, Congress confirmed Trump’s nominee Todd Blanche as Attorney General in a narrow 50-to-49 vote, with two Republicans dissenting. Blanche’s nomination faced bipartisan criticism over his handling of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the transfer of Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a minimum-security prison shortly after Blanche personally interviewed her.
Blanche recently assured Congress that combating human trafficking “remains a Department priority given the gravity of the harm it causes.” The administration also appointed Alessandra Serano, a career prosecutor, as the new national coordinator for child exploitation and human trafficking. Serano stated the department remains committed to fighting sex trafficking and suggested the decline in prosecutions might be due to prosecutors and investigators focusing on numerous ongoing complex cases, limiting their capacity to open new ones.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the review of sex-trafficking cases but reaffirmed its dedication to immigration and sex-crime enforcement, highlighting its commitment to dismantling human-trafficking networks.
Sex-trafficking investigations are among the most challenging, involving psychological abuse, financial tracking, and building trust with traumatized victims. However, many experienced prosecutors have recently left the department. During part of last year, most Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were reassigned to immigration duties, current agents and previous reports.
In some U.S. attorney offices, the shortage of prosecutors is so severe that agents working on sex-trafficking cases struggle to find prosecutors to advance their cases. Serano acknowledged that attrition is common due to the demanding nature of these cases but noted that recent departures have been higher than usual. She added that the department is actively recruiting to fill these vacancies.
To assess enforcement efforts, a review of publicly filed federal criminal cases over the past two decades was conducted using legal research databases and artificial intelligence, achieving 98 percent accuracy in classifying charges. This data revealed a long-term decline in sex-trafficking cases over the past decade, partly attributed to the Justice Department’s focus on more complex cases involving high-profile offenders.
However, under the Trump administration, prosecutions have been hindered by the immigration focus, staff departures, and cuts to grants supporting victim services. A veteran federal agent, speaking anonymously, stated that sex trafficking has not been a priority since the launch of mass deportations. With fewer agents dedicated to these cases, many investigations have stalled, and new cases are rarely initiated.
Martina Vandenberg, president of the Human Trafficking Legal Centre, criticized the administration for obstructing efforts in numerous ways. One former prosecutor in the southern U.S. reported that sex-trafficking investigations were severely impacted when several HSI agents were reassigned to immigration raids. In other regions, supervisors have had to negotiate for the limited agents available for these investigations.
Reassignments disrupt fragile relationships with victims who often lack stable communication or housing, causing cases to collapse. One federal agent highlighted this challenge. A trafficking survivor in New England experienced case delays after agents were diverted to immigration enforcement. An advocate working with the survivor said such reassignments signal to victims that their safety and cases are not priorities, leading the survivor to return to sex work and avoid federal authorities.
An FBI spokesperson noted that agents reassigned to immigration enforcement still worked on sex trafficking but did not comment on whether these transfers contributed to the decline in prosecutions.
Alongside personnel losses, funding for victim support has diminished. The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs typically allocates about $90 million annually in grants to nonprofits providing emergency housing, food, and mental health services to trafficking victims. These financial resources are crucial for stabilizing victims enough to testify.
