University of Akron student and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter vice president Sophia Fisher told Breitbart News that human trafficking is “currently the fastest-growing crime in the world, with over 40.3 million people trapped in it.” Fisher joined SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily host Alex Marlow in a Wednesday interview in which the two discussed the topic, as well as the impact that open border policies have on it.
“President Trump has come out and said himself that he is committed to leveraging every resource to confront this threat,” said Fisher. “As for persons that are leading the fight against trafficking, I think Jaco Booyens is one of the most prominent people that is doing a lot to really fight this.”
“I’m so glad that now we are dedicating a lot more attention to that,” she added. “When we’re talking about it on campus, I noticed there isn’t usually a divide. People are just shocked. They don’t really know the reality of what’s going on, so I think the most important thing we can do on college campuses is to educate the youth.”
Listen below:
Fisher told Marlow that she became an avid anti-human trafficking activist after realizing that Ohio is one of the biggest sex trafficking hubs in the United States.
The student also mentioned that human trafficking is “currently the fastest-growing crime in the world, with over 40.3 million people trapped in it, and it’s estimated to generate over $150 billion a year.”
Marlow shared why he believes the topic of human trafficking has not been talked about very much:
“I think part of the reason why it’s not really discussed as much as it should be, is because it makes the open border policies look bad,” he noted, “and the fact that we have an open border allows for these industries to take place — and to flourish.”
“And there’s a heavy cartel — Mexican cartel — connection to a lot of the human trafficking and smuggling rings,” added Marlow, “and the more you talk about that, the more it compels you to want to close the border, and most of the politicians in Washington don’t want to close the border.”
Fisher responded:
I think with weak border security, human trafficking is going to naturally increase. I think people take advantage of any weak system for their own personal gain, and that’s why I do advocate for strong border security, because we know what’s coming in and out of our country. If you look at, specifically what ICE has even done to combat this, in 2019 alone, they’ve arrested over 1,500 criminals, and identified over 300 victims. So it goes to show that by enforcing a strong border security, we are able to crack down on human trafficking.
Fisher also talked about her experiences being a conservative student on one of today’s college campuses.
A lot of what I am seeing is [professors] enforcing and mandating what should be [discussed]. I’ve had countless professors who have mocked me for my conservative or Christian beliefs in front of the entire class. I remember I had one philosophy professor last semester who made us read a book about why Christianity shouldn’t followed, and I obviously spoke up about that, and I wasn’t going to take that in my class, and I continued to be mocked for it.
Thankfully, he didn’t dock my grade, but still, he made a public humiliation of me and others in the class who prescribed to that belief, and it’s just disappointing now, because professors and faulty should be the ones, like you said, are leading the discussion, but not mandating and dictating what should be.
“Yeah, and it does come, I think, from a point of fear, because I think they felt like they were in charge of the country, and then now they’re not as much,” noted Marlow. “This is a very bad development, because we want people to get educated, but unfortunately, the education seems to be taking a backseat to the politics.”
Fisher said that despite people on college campuses seeming to make decisions “based off of feeling and not factual evidence,” it is still worth it to try to get the conservative message out to the youth.
“People are very set in their ways, they don’t want to be told otherwise, and everything is based off of feeling and not factual evidence,” said Fisher. “I think the biggest thing is if you want to reach the youth — meet them where they’re at, not necessarily compromising your beliefs, but opening the floor for civil discussion, hearing them out.”
“Oftentimes, they won’t respect you back, but I believe that we should respect people, even if they’re being disrespectful,” she added. “That’s what’s happening on college campuses. It’s very hostile — and it’s usually just one idea that is being pushed.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.