The ultimate purpose of these actions is exploitation — economic, institutional, and systemic. Within the United States, child protection systems often function as pipelines that convert family separation into a revenue model. The removal of children under false pretenses allows agencies and affiliated contractors to receive federal bonuses tied to adoption quotas, creating a financial motive for human trafficking under color of law.
This is not mere negligence — it constitutes trafficking in persons under international definitions. The purpose aligns with recognized forms of exploitation: sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery-like practices, servitude, or the removal of organs.
The stated justification is often “the best interest of the child,” yet the underlying pattern reveals institutional incentives to maintain dependency and control. By severing familial bonds through deception or coercion, agencies perpetuate a cycle of placement, funding, and exploitation, wherein each child becomes a fiscal asset within the bureaucratic machinery.
Under Article 3(a) of the Palermo Protocol, consent of a victim is irrelevant when obtained through abuse of power or position of vulnerability. The profit motive combined with coercive authority constitutes the “purpose” of trafficking — even when disguised as child protection.