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Donald J. Trump hosted a private viewing of ‘Sound of Freedom’ starring Jim Caviezel with members of the cast and production team as guests of honor where producer Eduardo Verástegui was there. He is no stranger to the former President as he served under Trump as a former member of his Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity.
“You made this one of the hottest movies in the world. Becoming the President of Mexico should be easy in comparison,” Trump told Verastegui after the movie showing.
Verastegui, a pro-life conservative, is considering running for President of Mexico in 2024.
Trump said if he is elected President in 2024 he will propose the death penalty for child traffickers in the United States.
“When I am back in the White House, I will immediately end the Biden border nightmare that traffickers are using to exploit vulnerable women and children. I will use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their home countries, without delay,” Trump said in a video released by his campaign. “I will urge Congress to ensure that anyone caught trafficking children across our border receives the death penalty immediately,” he added.
Sound of Freedom is based on the story of Tim Ballard who founded the non-profit organization Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.). He has credited his organization with rescuing thousands of trafficking victims. He briefed politicians on the issue of child sex trafficking, including President Donald Trump in January 2019. Ballard trained Imperial County Sheriff’s Office personnel in the use of data mining software that led to the arrest of a man suspected of distributing child pornography.
In January 2020, Then-President Trump recognized the 20th Anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and signed an Executive Order on Combating Human Trafficking and Online Child Exploitation in the United States.
Through this order, Trump created the first-ever White House position focused solely on combating human trafficking. Since taking office, the President signed nine pieces of bipartisan legislation to combat human trafficking, both domestically and internationally.
As President, he approved the largest Department of Justice (DOJ) grant package in history to combat human trafficking, including the first-ever grants for safe housing for survivors. Trump doubled the amount of DOJ funding to combat human trafficking that existed during the previous administration and prioritized funds to enhance prosecutions and frontline efforts in the states.
In Fiscal Year 2019, Federal law enforcement agencies initiated more than 1,600 new investigations into human traffickers, and DOJ-funded human trafficking task forces at the State and local level reported opening more than 2,500 new cases.
The Trump Administration signed bilateral agreements with El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to help curtail labor exploitation.
Originally, Sound of Freedom was projected to gross $11–15 million over its first week of release, with some estimates reaching $20 million. It has grossed $134 million in the United States against a $14.5 million budget. In its opening week, rumors and videos on social media claimed that AMC Theatres was canceling screenings and disrupting viewing by inventing technical difficulties and disabling air conditioning. Angel Studios’ head of theatrical distribution Brandon Purdie said “These rumors are not accurate” and stated that due to the positive reception and consumer demand, AMC had added 450 additional theaters on July 14.
