Share
Before Resigning For Ignoring a Serial Child Rapist, Alex Acosta Twice Proposed to Slash Funds for Sex Trafficking Victims
Alex Acosta, the now-former Labor Secretary, is a despicable person unworthy of the time it takes to type this post. However, it's important we know the harmful actions he began so we can try to correct them when sanity is restored to our federal government someday.
Acosta, the [disgraced former] US labor secretary under fire for having granted [rapist] Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking.
Acosta’s plan to slash funding of a critical federal agency in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children is contained in his financial plans for the Department of Labor for fiscal year 2020. In it, he proposes decimating the resources of a section of his own department known as the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB).
Acosta’s plan to slash funding of a critical federal agency in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children is contained in his financial plans for the Department of Labor for fiscal year 2020. In it, he proposes decimating the resources of a section of his own department known as the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB).
The battle over the future of ILAB is ongoing. Acosta’s proposed cuts were imported into Trump’s $4.7tn federal budget, released in March, which contains several Republican goals including extra money for the military and funding of the president’s beloved border wall.
UNBELIEVABLE.
ILAB has the task of countering human trafficking, child labor and forced labor across the US and around the world. Its mission is “to promote a fair global playing field for workers” and it is seen as a crucial leader in efforts to crack down on the sex trafficking of minors.
The Department of Labor is widely respected for its vital role in investigating, prosecuting and preventing human trafficking worldwide. Experts say any major cut to ILAB would be a direct threat to the US government’s ability to combat the sexual exploitation of children.
When Republicans destroy our government, we're left wonder how evil like this is elected in our country. It destroys any remaining faith in the concept of government so that even when Democrats take back office, anti-government feelings or simply the belief government can't do right, are engrained in large swaths of both sides of the aisle.
Katherine Clark, a congresswoman from Massachusetts, said Acosta’s proposed cut was “reckless” and “amoral”. When seen alongside the sweetheart plea deal he granted Epstein in 2008, when Acosta was the US attorney in Miami, she said, it indicated that the labor secretary did not see protecting vulnerable children as a priority.
“This is now a pattern,” Clark told the Guardian. “Like so many in this administration Mr Acosta chooses the powerful and wealthy over the vulnerable and victims of sexual assault and it is time that he finds another line of work.”