GENTNER DRUMMOND

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 21, 2025

Drummond seeks improvements to federal-state cooperation to end human trafficking

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 21, 2025) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond and a coalition of 41 state and territory attorneys general are urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to require better cooperation with local law enforcement agencies from the next operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

“Cooperation from the entity selected to run the National Human Trafficking Hotline is vital to our efforts to end the horror of human trafficking,” Drummond said. “Law enforcement agencies must be able to rely on timely reports from the hotline about suspicious activity that can lead to arrests. Urgency and timeliness are critical in this endeavor.”

In a letter sent this week, the coalition noted, “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.”

Since 2007, Polaris has operated the 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. However, Polaris was not forwarding third-party tips about adult victims to state law enforcement except in limited circumstances. Additionally, states discovered a delay of up to several months before the hotline shared tips.

This practice is contrary to what Polaris itself advertises, to what states and organizations have come to expect from the partnership, and, the attorneys general believe, to what Congress expects from its funding. In February 2023, a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general asked Congress to require the hotline to report 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 currently is seeking applicants for a new funding award with applications due May 30. The award requires the hotline operator to develop a plan for working with law enforcement.

In the letter, the attorneys general ask Secretary Kennedy, “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.”

In addition to Oklahoma, the letter was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Read the letter.

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