Whistleblowers Claim National Trafficking Hotline Ignored Law Enforcement Referrals

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Whistleblowers have alleged that The Polaris Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that administers the National Human Trafficking Hotline, regularly fails to refer tips to law enforcement for investigation.

These claims confirm an earlier complaint from a bipartisan group of state attorneys general.

According to the charity’s IRS filings, The Polaris Project received $4,831,020 in government grants in 2023.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as part of a financial assistance award totaling $5 million annually.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley presented evidence turned over to Congress by an anonymous Polaris employee and detailed the allegations.

Just The News reports:

The whistleblowers’ disclosures, Grassley wrote, “appear to confirm the allegations that Polaris is not reporting instances of potential human trafficking to law enforcement.”

Neither The Polaris Project nor the Department of Health and Human Services responded to Just The News’ requests for comment.

“As you are aware, Polaris has received millions in taxpayer dollars to run this hotline, and if the grant is renewed, will receive an additional $9 million in funding,” Grassley wrote. “It’s imperative that HHS ensures the hotline is running efficiently and effectively to protect the countless victims of human trafficking.”

According to Grassley’s review of a March 2025 case file, Polaris received a report of a “possible [sex trafficking (ST)] situation”. The nonprofit’s staff marked the case “Yes” for the involvement of potential minors and determined there were “high indicators” of trafficking.

The tip also stated that the alleged victim feared “[s]he’s going to be physically hurt by the pimp running this company,” and indicated the alleged trafficker forced other women to work for them.

Despite the seriousness of the report, Polaris labeled the case “Work Not Required.” The first whistleblower explained that this designation meant the case was closed without notifying law enforcement, Grassley wrote.

A second whistleblower reported a February 2025 tip involving a victim and her minor sister allegedly held by two potential traffickers in the U.S. The victim later ceased communication due to “safety concerns,” the records state. Polaris again labeled the case “Work Not Required” and described the situation as “unclear situation as [potential victim (PV)] stopped responding.”

As with the previous case, this designation meant no report was made to law enforcement, and no further action was taken.

You can read Grassley’s letter and supporting whistleblower evidence below:

Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight—representing one anonymous whistleblower—told the John Solomon Reports podcast:

“It’s hard to say…whether it’s simply a matter of being under resourced [or] whether it’s just a matter of inattentiveness and laziness.”

The hotline has stated:

“[It] supports survivors’ right to choose what those next steps might be, including whether or not to access services or report information to law enforcement. Except in situations involving potential abuse of a minor or if we believe a person is in imminent danger, the Trafficking Hotline will not take action without the consent of the person in the situation.”

“You know…there are instances where, you know, there seems to be an indication of saying, ‘Hey, we should follow up,’ and then a little bit of action, and then it just falls through the cracks,” Leavitt said. “So…whether, if there are further kind of bad intentions behind that, the whistleblower doesn’t have any insight into that.”

“But you know, the effect is all the same. [These are] again, some of the most vulnerable circumstances you can imagine,” he added.

The whistleblower allegations echo concerns previously raised by bipartisan groups of state attorneys general, who have written to the federal health agency about Polaris’ alleged failure to report tips—despite its multi-million-dollar contract and previous government efforts to encourage collaboration with local law enforcement.

“The National Human Trafficking Hotline had long been an integral part of our work, until it was discovered a few years ago that the organization awarded the grant to run the Hotline, Polaris, was no longer sharing tips from concerned citizens and distressed family members with local law enforcement,” a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general wrote to Secretary Kennedy last month.

They continued:

“Without those tips, our law enforcement loses critical leads to dismantling trafficking operations. We also lose valuable leads to rescuing the victims of trafficking and helping them begin the road to recovery.”

A separate coalition of attorneys general expressed similar concerns to the then-Biden administration in 2023.

Then-Secretary Xavier Becerra responded that the department would improve the hotline’s coordination with law enforcement, and said the ACF was “incorporating additional language in the next [funding opportunity] outlining specific coordination requirements with law enforcement.”

The attorneys general urged the current administration to award the next grant to an applicant that “demonstrates its commitment to being a partner to our offices and local law enforcement with timely reports of trafficking tips.”

Katherine Chon serves as the Director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons under HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, which funds Polaris.

Before joining HHS, Chon co-founded Polaris in 2002 to “create a world without slavery” stemming from human trafficking.

According to JP, the Office on Trafficking in Persons, headed by Chon, is the official grant awardee. Grassley’s letter noted that Chon’s prior affiliation with Polaris raises potential conflict-of-interest concerns.

“What steps has HHS taken to ensure the apparent conflicts of interest between Polaris and Ms. Chon do not affect the contracting process?” Grassley asked.

“Has Ms. Chon been walled off from these matters? If not, why not?” The senator also requested Kennedy’s office provide all records related to any recusal by Chon from overseeing her former organization.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a government resource for victims seeking assistance or for citizens to report suspected trafficking incidents.

Since its inception, the hotline has received over 430,000 signals—or tips—and identified more than 100,000 cases of human trafficking involving 197,000 victims, according to its website.

The vast majority of those cases involved sex trafficking.

READ: Soros-Funded Groups Sue to Block Trump’s Anti-Child-Trafficking Reforms



Source
Las Vegas News Magazine

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