Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Like most Americans, my wife, Gena, and I are celebrating freedom this weekend and particularly giving thanks for the freedom fighters everywhere. We are of course especially grateful for those who laid down their lives in service to our country, like my brother Wieland did on June 3, 1970, during the Vietnam War.
Speak of freedom fighters, Angel Studios, the same one that produces the blockbuster "Chosen" series, has announced that its new film, "Sound of Freedom," starring Jim Caviezel, will be in theaters nationwide on July 4. You'll want to mark your calendar and bring your friends and loved ones to see this incredible movie.
"Sound of Freedom" retells the true-life story of a federal agent who quit his job and devoted his life to rescuing children around the world from human trafficking. Granted, trafficking is not a topic that anyone loves to look it, but this is an inspiring movie that everyone must see.
As the press released explained, "Sound of Freedom" is "based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy's sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death."
There's an added bonus to the release of this movie. Using patent-pending technology Angel Studios developed for "The Chosen," fans can "pay it forward" by buying "Sound of Freedom" movie tickets for others to watch for free. Pay it forward details can be found here or at Angel.com/sof. Jim Caviezel has put forth the challenge of having 2,000,000 tickets "paid forward" by the time the movie is released.
"I am so proud to be a part of this impactful film," said Caviezel, who portrays the lead. "In fact, I'd say, this is the second-most important film I've done behind 'Passion of the Christ.'" (Listen to Jim talk about the movie and human trafficking right after the film's trailer here.)
The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) reported, "Trafficking in persons is a heinous crime and human rights abuse. The most vulnerable members of the global community, those who have limited access to social services and protections, are targeted by traffickers for exploitation. Steps have been taken, however, to locate victims, reinstate their inherent rights, provide them with protection and services, and prosecute offenders.
"No country is immune from human trafficking. Victims are forced into prostitution or to work in quarries and sweatshops, on farms, as domestics, as child soldiers, and in many forms of involuntary servitude. Traffickers often target children and young women. They routinely trick victims with promises of employment, educational opportunities, marriage, and a better life.
"Human trafficking is the third-most profitable criminal activity, following only drug and arms trafficking. An estimated $9.5 billion is generated in annual revenue from all trafficking activities, with at least $4 billion attributed to the worldwide brothel industry."
The NCJRS goes on to explain, "Of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 70% are female and 50% are children. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade.
"Each year, an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country each year is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry."
Consider this statement from John Jones, chief of the Intelligence Counter-terrorism Division with the Texas Department of Public Safety: "In the last 7 years (in Texas), over 4,000 illegal aliens have been incarcerated for sexual assault. 62% of them are sexual assault against children."
U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz, told Sean Hannity in 2019 that what most people don't realize is that cartels are also "making tons of money" off of everyone who crosses into the U.S. illegally: "1.7 million dollars a week are made into the cartel's pockets from the unaccompanied children and family units that are crossing in [the Rio Grand] area [of Texas] alone." That's 1.7 million dollars every week in just a few hundred mile strip of border crossing!
According to NPR, migrants not only become unwilling mules to smuggle drugs for cartels, but they're also robbed, kidnapped and their families are extorted. According to the Daily Beast, cartels have so much power over immigrant routes into the U.S. that they daily rape, murder and ransom children for human trafficking, prostitution rings, and "may even be harvesting their organs for the U.S. black market."
The U.K.'s Daily Mail reported, "Mexican drug cartels and human smugglers TAG 'asylum-seeking' migrants to the U.S. with $500 colored wristbands that look like hospital bracelets to keep track of their movements."
Like entrances into an amusement park, color-coded plastic wristbands are placed on migrants who pay exorbitant prices to cross particular areas into the U.S. But this is no E-ticket ride.
CBP spokesman Matthew Dyman said, "Information on the bracelets represents a multitude of data that is used by smuggling organizations, such as payment status or affiliation with smuggling groups."
Texas Department of Public Safety retired captain Jaeson Jones explained to the Center for Immigration Studies that some of the wristbands contain a logo, such as a devil face or turtle, the latter being the logo of choice of a human trafficking group linked to the Gulf Cartel.
Shouldn't the abducted and trafficked children alone matter so much to all of us (despite what side of the border wars you're on) that we do everything within our power to protect them from domestic and alien predators, including the willingness to declare a national emergency or build a barrier wall at the border? If former President Obama once declared a national emergency for blocking property at our southern border, shouldn't Mr. Biden declare one to stop child predators?
As Jim Caviezel's lead character says in the movie "The Sound of Freedom": "God's kids are not for sale."
(Please, learn more about one of the most important topics and movies of our time, "The Sound of Freedom" here: soundoffreedommovie.com. And join the army of "pay it forward" fans and patriots who will gift others an entrance into the movie on the July 4 holiday weekend.)
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