Former President Trump recently shared a campaign proposal on Friday to punish human traffickers with the death penalty, his latest tough-on-crime policy unveiled as part of his 2024 White House bid via The Hill.
“When I am back in the White House, I will immediately end the Biden border nightmare that traffickers are using to exploit vulnerable women and children,” Trump said in a video released by his campaign.
“I will urge Congress to ensure that anyone caught trafficking children across our border receives the death penalty immediately,” he added.
The former president proposed reimplementing Title 42, which is a pandemic-era policy that was lifted earlier this year, in order to more quickly expel migrants and return individuals trafficked across the border to their home country.
Trump also used the campaign video to promote “Sound of Freedom,” the controversial box office hit that chronicles a Homeland Security Department agent who says he investigated pedophiles and trafficking rings. The former president screened the film this week at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club.
The film has become popular in conservative circles but drawn criticism from anti-trafficking experts, Rolling Stone reports. Controversy also surrounds leading actor Jim Caviezel, who plays Ballard, for his reported prior endorsements of conspiracy theories.
Trump’s campaign proposal for human traffickers echoes his previous vows to impose the death penalty for convicted drug dealers.
The former president’s reliance on the death penalty as a deterrence comes as he seeks to burnish his tough-on-crime credentials in a GOP primary where his use of pardon powers and his support for criminal justice reform could be seen as a vulnerability.
