"Luckily, we had super-tight connections with the White House at the time," he explained. "One phone call to the White House. 'We need visas.' This never happens, they're not going to give us visas, there's no nexus direct to the United States. Instantly, no problem: 'You'll have them as soon as we can print them out,'" he said. "Got visas for them, got them to the United States." As he and Beck congratulated Trump for not exploiting the situation for political purposes, Ballard said the sole condition the administration placed on these visas was that the women come to the White House to be welcomed to the U.S.Do you work in anti-trafficking or aftercare? Have you worked for or with Operation Underground Railroad, White Mountain Research, or the Nazarene Fund? We would love to hear from you. Contact the reporters at tim.marchman@vice.com or anna.merlan@vice.com, or Signal us at 267-713-9832.
In its statement, OUR also said that VICE World News may be violating domestic and international law by asking questions about whether the women are still in the U.S., whether OUR knows where they are, their legal status, and the current status of Ballard's efforts to reunite them with their families. When pressed, an OUR spokesperson was unwilling or unable to specify which laws the organization claims VICE World News was potentially violating. This studious respect for privacy, of course, didn't extend to Ballard's extensive and detailed comments to Glenn Beck and Candace Owens, interviewers willing to give OUR a sympathetic ear, avoid hard questions, and, in Beck's case, do business with Ballard. In the end, the curious silence about central aspects of this story raises larger questions not just about the deep connections between OUR and powerful factions of the political right, as well as Ballard's willingness to say misleading and untrue things—and even exploit the stories of survivors—to promote his organization. It also raises more foundational questions about what OUR, which says it works in dozens of countries around the world, actually does for the women and children it claims to save. A day before this story published, after multiple requests for comment from VICE World News to OUR, Tim Ballard posted a photo of the women's graduation ceremony to Instagram, and revealed, for the first time, that OUR and "one of our aftercare partners," as he put it, had "hosted" the graduation ceremony.Violence against children and women is not limited by borders, culture, class, or immigration status. Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) is proud to aid victims who fall prey to human trafficking and the associated crimes that follow. The assertions that call into question the validity of OUR's mission to rescue 10 Venezuelan women from their captors are misguided, untrue and only aid the criminal activity OUR is seeking to end.
Furthermore, OUR is proud of the aftercare services that are provided to trafficking survivors and the very personalized approach taken to support each survivor in their recovery. While OUR is constantly looking to improve the services offered to the victims of these horrific crimes, each survivor's journey toward recovery is different and each individual has different needs. As such, no "source" could possibly provide an accurate generalization of these survivors' recovery, which is often, and understandably, long, complicated and full of highs and lows. Consequently, OUR remains committed to supporting survivors through their journey to recovery and refutes any claim otherwise.
Wherever possible, OUR celebrates these women and their accomplishments by lifting them up, including recently at the ceremony that OUR held for these survivors. Any attempt to diminish their accomplishments, for which they are extremely proud of, is truly disappointing.
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OUR remains singularly focused on their vital work and mission to help protect children from sexual exploitation.
Birthday parties, gondola rides, and graduation ceremonies—real or staged—are just the beginning of recovery, however. Survivors are not always photogenic, or grateful, or pure in the eyes of people like Glenn Beck. And at a certain point, the lights dim and the party is over.Mass said OUR establishes partnerships with local organizations to ensure rescued children receive mental health support, vocational training, housing, and anything else they need. OUR inspects all potential aftercare facilities and screens all partner organizations months in advance of operations to protect against future exploitation of rescued children.
These official duties are just the beginning of her team's efforts, Mass said.
"We provide birthday parties, graduation parties," she said. "We've done gondola rides down the river in Mexico."