Led by the Hand of God, Guided by the Holy Spirit
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The man in charge of the the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States is fighting to save trafficked children.
Bob Unanue (pronounced U-nan-way), president and CEO of Goya Foods, is working
to locate hundreds of thousands of children who have crossed the US-Mexico border, and then just disappeared.
"We've gone from 85,000 children missing to an estimated 340,000. But they're not missing, they've been sold." – Bob Unanue
Through the initiative, Goya Cares, Unanue is taking it upon himself to make parents, teachers and school children aware of the problem, as well as to connect with other good-faith partners to find the children.
"They need to be reminded they are precious gifts from God," he says.
In an interview with Fox News this week, Unanue said he had not been unaware of the scope of the problem until his involvement with the hit movie Sound of Freedom "opened his eyes." The film is inspired by the true story of a lone federal agent who rescues a child who was kidnapped, and then trafficked into the bowels of the Colombian jungles.
"Trafficking of children is happening all over this country," Unanue says, "and it is the biggest industry in the world [bringing in] 250 billion dollars annually."
Once aware of the problem, Unanue took action. In January 2023, he launched the Goya Cares Global Initiative, an alliance of interested individuals, including community organizations and businesses, dedicated to eradicating child trafficking.
"[W]e must continue to fight and bring the child back to the center of our care and concern so that they may have hope and the opportunity to live in a world where their life is valued, and their freedom is a reality," he said.
Key to the Goya Cares mission is providing educational seminars for school children. The seminars not only educate young students about the reality of trafficking, but provide trusted contacts for trafficked children inside the school system so they can find a way out.
Once Goya Care locates trafficked children, it helps them find their parents, or actual guardians, and then provides "after care" that helps them deal with the effects of the horrifying trauma.
Investigative journalist Sara Carter, one of Unanue's collaborators, says it's a multi-layered task that involves cooperation with multiple players. "It's going to take a huge effort involving federal, local and state enforcement officials as well as our partners in the western hemisphere," Carter said.
Carter herself has been to El Salvador a number of times, speaking directly with president Nayib Bukele to help locate relatives of the El Salvadoran children who have been found in the US.
The work is daunting, but Unanue says he believes that just as the "hand of God" blessed the production of The Sound of Freedom and brought it to fruition so, too, the Goya Cares international initiative is also being blessed by God.
"[The trafficking of children into the US] is very well-organized and paid for. The cartels are making billions of dollars." – Bob Unanue
GOVERNMENT REPORT ON UNACCOMPANIED MINORS
A report issued in August 2024 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), mirrors the gravity of Unanue's concerns.
According to the document, tracing activity from 2019 to 2023, ICE transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied children (UCs) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The federal agency assigned immigration court dates to "some" (specific number not provided) of these children.
ICE was able to account for more than 32,000 children who did NOT show up for the court hearings. The agency says it is unable to account for the location of any of these children.
The report also states that as of May 2024, ICE had NOT assigned court dates – for whatever reason – to more than 291,000 children who crossed the border unaccompanied.
This means that the Biden-Harris administration lost track of over 320,000 migrant children who crossed the border without parents.
ICE is unable to keep track of all the children who cross the border, according to the report. This indicates that the tally of "320,000 missing migrant children" is a gross understatement of the real figure.
The agency blames the lack of an automated process for "sharing information internally" among department stakeholders in addition to "limited resources" for the inability to provide accurate numbers.
Ice points out that "Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, [there is] no assurance [the children] are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor."
The DHS report does not specify the age of the unaccompanied children in question.
Data provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement shows the percentage of unaccompanied young people entering the US relative to their age for the fiscal year 2024:
24%: 0-12 years old
12%: 13-14 years old
31%: 15-16 years old
33%: 17 years old
These abstract numbers were brought to life when just days after Trump was elected, a video of an unaccompanied 2-year-old migrant girl at the US-Mexico border went viral.
Trump's border czar Tom Homan – with whom Goya Cares is collaborating – said at the time that he feels "sorry for this little girl" but is "glad" to know that the American people are seeing the tragedy of Biden's open border policy.
"I've held dying children. ... I've talked to girls as young as nine who were raped multiple times by members of the cartel. I saw 19 dead aliens at my feet, a five-year-old boy was baked to death [stuffed inside an illegal transport vehicle]. I'm tired of it." – Tom Homan
"And that little girl, God bless her, we need to get her back to her family. ... This is why we need to secure our borders, it's about saving lives," said Homan.
This is what Bob Unanue is trying to fix.
"As a devout Catholic, my belief in God and the Holy Spirit has never wavered despite incredible pushback, criticism, disbelief and contempt I have received along the way." – Bob Unanue in Blessed, Donald J. Trump, and the Spiritual War
VICIOUSLY CANCELLED – TRULY BLESSED
In July 2020, Unanue became the target of a vicious cancel culture attack.
The CEO had been invited to the White House where he pledged one million cans of Goya chickpeas and another one million pounds of food to food banks as part of the Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.
Grateful to be at the White House and part of the initiative, he used the word "blessed" to describe the country under President Trump.
"Americans are truly blessed to have a leader like Donald Trump," he said.
The backlash for this praise of the president was fast and furious with many calling for a boycott of Goya food products.
Julián Castro, former housing secretary and former Democrat presidential candidate (2020), led the charge to boycott Goya products.
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"Goya Foods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations. Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products," Castro tweeted.
Marxist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx famously chimed in, retweeting an image of Unanue and Trump at the White House with words of caution: "Make your shopping decisions accordingly."
Calls for Unanue to apologize, as well as insults and threats, followed. But he stood his ground saying he kept the words of St. Paul in mind: "persecuted but not abandoned, cast down but not destroyed."
The boycott quickly backfired and turned into a "buy-cott." One market research study found Goya jumped in sales nationwide with net sales increasing 22% in the two weeks after the controversy.
There's no doubt Goya Foods benefitted from the free advertising. Five months after the controversy on Dec. 7, 2020, in a masterful example of how to treat those who persecute you, he named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "employee of the month." Her call for a boycott had led to a tenfold increase in sales.
"There is no way the reaction could have been so enormous without the Hand of God, without the Holy Spirit," he said.
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
In addition to searching for trafficked children, Unanue has published a new book, titled Blessed, Donald J. Trump, and the Spiritual War: How the Battle for the Soul of This Country Began with One Word, that is a USA Today bestseller.
In narrating his life Unanue reveals himself to be a man standing up for God and country and his Goya family.
The hand of God can be seen in his ability to withstand adversity and turn it to success. With patience and determination he repurposed the suffering he endured for using the word "blessed" into the title of the best seller – a lot like Trump used his mugshot intended to destroy him into his inauguration photo.
In describing the author, Amazon writes: "Unanue may be a humble, philanthropic man determined to better the world, but he is no sheep. The normally mild-mannered CEO stared down the hatred, division, and destruction of cancel culture and came out victorious on the other side."
Many of us who admire the man are also rooting for him to be victorious on behalf of the trafficked children, suffering and enslaved, even as we speak.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught high school in Poland and Oman and at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
Editor's note:
HOW SOULS AND LIBERTYÂ WILL MOVE FORWARD THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
There can be no doubt we have witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States and the world. The election of Donald Trump to a second Presidential term is a great victory for Christian patriots, but it is not a complete or final victory. Rather, it is a reprieve from the ceaseless assaults on life, liberty and faith we have had to endure for four years.
Donald Trump is president once again, and his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.
We have a Heaven-sent opportunity to step up and ensure this victory is not merely a one-off, but the first of many and the foundation of a lasting legacy of patriotic, Christian, pro-family policies.
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Stephen Wynne
Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty