By Michael Phillips | CABayNews
As California’s 2026 gubernatorial race begins to take shape, Republican candidate Steve Hilton has thrust one of the state’s darkest and most disturbing crises into the public eye: child sex trafficking on the streets of Los Angeles.
In recent weeks, Hilton has made the notorious Figueroa Street corridor in South Los Angeles—long known as “the Blade”—a centerpiece of his campaign, using on-the-ground exposure, social media, and blunt rhetoric to argue that years of Democratic governance have failed to protect the most vulnerable children.
On the Ground in South Los Angeles
In mid-December 2025, Hilton spent a Friday night walking Figueroa Street alongside anti-trafficking advocates. He documented open prostitution and exploitation, sharing photos and videos on X that showed cars circling the block and sex being sold in plain view. Hilton claimed that some of the victims he observed appeared to be very young girls, alleging ages as low as eight.
Days later, Hilton held a press conference directly on Figueroa Street, livestreaming the event as prostitution activity continued visibly behind him. The imagery was intentional. “This is not hidden,” Hilton said in interviews afterward. “This is happening in the open, and our leaders are pretending it isn’t.”
Hilton has since appeared on Fox Business and Los Angeles talk radio to amplify the message, repeatedly describing Los Angeles as “the world capital of child sex trafficking” and calling the situation a moral failure of state leadership.
A Direct Challenge to Democratic Leadership
Hilton’s criticism is squarely aimed at California’s Democratic establishment, particularly Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. He argues that permissive policies, combined with lax enforcement, have created conditions where traffickers operate with confidence and impunity.
Central to that critique is Senate Bill 357, the “Safer Streets for All Act,” authored by Scott Wiener and signed into law by Newsom in 2022. The law repealed Penal Code Section 653.22, eliminating the crime of loitering with intent to engage in prostitution.
Supporters of SB 357 argued it reduced discriminatory policing and protected marginalized adults. Critics—including law enforcement unions and anti-trafficking advocates—warned it would remove a key intervention tool used to identify minors and disrupt pimp-controlled operations.
Hilton has embraced the critics’ view, calling SB 357 “a gift to traffickers” and vowing to repeal or override it if elected.
Policy Promises and a Hard-Line Approach
As part of his campaign platform, Hilton has outlined an aggressive response to street-level trafficking:
- Repeal or roll back SB 357 to restore law enforcement’s ability to intervene early.
- Deploy the National Guard, if necessary, to secure corridors like Figueroa Street.
- Intensify prosecutions of pimps, sex buyers, and motels that knowingly facilitate exploitation.
- Reform California’s foster care system, noting that many trafficking victims are runaways or foster youth.
Hilton frames these proposals as a return to basic public safety and child protection, arguing that compassion without enforcement has failed.
What We Know About Figueroa Street
Figueroa Street has been a known prostitution and trafficking hotspot for decades. Federal indictments in recent years have targeted gangs controlling portions of the corridor, and investigative reporting has documented minors—often foster youth or runaways—being exploited there.
Los Angeles consistently ranks as one of the nation’s largest hubs for human trafficking, driven by population size, homelessness, poverty, and systemic failures in child welfare. Multi-agency efforts, including a 2024 Figueroa Corridor Initiative, have led to arrests and rescues, but critics argue those efforts are overwhelmed by policies that discourage proactive policing.
The debate over SB 357 sits at the center of this tension: whether reducing discretionary stops protects civil liberties, or whether it has unintentionally made children harder to identify and rescue.
Politics, Awareness, and Accountability
Hilton has no documented history of leading anti-trafficking organizations or sponsoring legislation prior to his gubernatorial run. His current efforts are explicitly political—designed to raise awareness, shape the narrative, and mobilize voters around what he calls the consequences of one-party Democratic rule in California.
For supporters, Hilton’s raw, on-the-street approach is long overdue candor about a crisis many believe has been ignored. For critics, it is performative and risks oversimplifying a complex problem.
What is undeniable is that child sex trafficking—especially involving minors in plain sight—has re-entered California’s political conversation in a forceful way. As the 2026 race unfolds, voters will have to decide whether Hilton’s hardline proposals represent a necessary course correction, or whether they trade civil liberties for political theater.
For families, foster youth advocates, and child welfare reformers, the stakes go far beyond politics. The question is whether California’s leaders—current or aspiring—can move beyond slogans and finally deliver sustained protection for children who have already been failed too many times.
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