US Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day

The State Department is renewing its emphasis on Americans who are wrongfully detained and held hostage overseas. This initiative coincides with a day of commemoration for those who have never returned home and for those still being held abroad.

According to the Foley Foundation, there are currently 34 Americans being held hostage or wrongfully detained in several countries, including Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba. However, these cases are just the ones publicly acknowledged, and the actual number is likely higher due to the fluidity of the situation and families' decisions to withhold details about their loved ones.

"It has been extraordinarily seamless and I have to credit all those who were in the Biden to the incoming Trump administration," said Diane Foley, mother of journalist Jim Foley who was killed in Syria in 2012. "It just leaves me so hopeful."

The gathering also celebrated the recent return of several Americans, including Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel from Russia, two Americans from Gaza, and approximately half a dozen individuals who had been held in Venezuela.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who attended the event, affirmed the agency's commitment to bringing Americans held overseas back home, calling it "an apolitical mission."