Eduardo Verástegui led "Sound of Freedom" to the United States Congress. In addition to screening the film, the producer met with Kevin McCarthy and presented him with a legislative initiative named after his creation: to attempt to locate 85,000 Latin American children unaccounted for in the United States.
The bill was drafted by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Roger Severino (Heritage Foundation) and Verástegui himself. "The film has the potential to detonate a global movement, with real solutions, leading [to] concrete actions that will help us save children," he said.
"For example, presenting today this initiative whereby, we hope to help find and rescue the nearly 85 thousand Latin American children and adolescent immigrants unaccompanied by adults, children whom the U.S. government allowed to enter the country in 2022 and whose whereabouts are now unknown, because it did not do what it should have done to correctly identify and care for them", he added, detailing a little more about the initiative delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Sound of Freedom movie faced every obstacle imaginable in coming to theaters.
But Tim Ballard and Jim Caviezel didn't give up because "when God tells you to do something, you don't hesitate." pic.twitter.com/8oHCw3gyy4
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) July 26, 2023
The initiative would have a bipartisan tint and would place particular focus on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), currently responsible for "ensuring that guardians or 'sponsors,' as they call them, assume the care of children without families, provide for them, and protect them."
McCarthy was delighted with the screening of the film. The Republican even exchanged words with Tim Ballard and Jim Caviezel. "We are making history tonight. This film that we are presenting today on Capitol Hill addresses issues that are too urgent and too important, issues that we must all engage in," he celebrated.
Verástegui took the microphone after the Californian and used the opportunity to call on all those who make decisions to take action against child trafficking in Latin America, "especially the more than 85,000 children who are missing in this country." "I ask you to do everything in your power to find them," he said in closing.
"Sound of Freedom" has already been seen by some 12 million people and will soon begin to spread to other continents. It will arrive in South Africa on August 18, New Zealand and Australia on August 24 and Latin America on August 31. It will take a little longer to reach Europe, where it will arrive in September(U.K. and Ireland) and October(Spain).
