Human trafficking experts on Capitol Hill on Tuesday slammed the Biden-Harris administration for over 320,000 missing migrant children, calling it an example of a “dangerous loophole” that has led to widespread exploitation. A young girl shared a horrifying story of abuse.
Alicia Hopper, who has overseen non-governmental organizations and other organizations exploited by human traffickers for sex and forced labor, asked members of the House Homeland Security Committee to take on border security duties. He said that indebted federal agencies are turning the border into “human trafficking.” pipeline. ”
“As a Hispanic mother, this crisis is very personal to me,” said Hopper, a consultant with Sadulsky Enterprises LLC. “The very systems designed to protect vulnerable children have become conduits for human trafficking.”
“The girl arrived at the border in the custody of people claiming to be family members, bruised, disoriented and in pain,” she said. “A medical examination revealed that she had been raped, but there was no verification of her guardianship, so she was sent back to her abuser.”
Hopper added: “This is not an isolated case, but a clear failure of a system that leaves children in the hands of exploiters.”
More than 529,000 migrant children have entered the United States under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
As of May 2024, 291,000 people remain fugitives within the country, without a date to appear in immigration court, and federal authorities have no way to track their whereabouts. This was revealed in a shocking Department of Homeland Security surveillance report in August.
Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released 32,000 children into the U.S. with hearing dates, according to a 14-page DHS Inspector General report that tracked the period from October 2018 to September 2023. , that they never showed up.
In September, the Homeland Security Committee subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra seeking records related to the “vetting, testing, and monitoring” of immigrant sponsors.
On Tuesday, the committee also heard from witnesses with first-hand knowledge of failures within federal agencies, such as the U.S. Border Patrol and the Department of Health and Human Services, that have led to the disappearance of large numbers of migrant children.
“Children, both boys and girls, are being trafficked for sex,” HHS whistleblower Tara Rodas testified. He previously worked on behalf of the agency's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which was responsible for housing unaccompanied single immigrants in emergency reception facilities in California.
“Just last month, I spoke with a care provider in Florida who told me about cases of immigrant children as young as eight years old with sexually transmitted diseases,” she added.
Despite a whistleblower complaint prior to her accusation of abuse in 2015 during former President Barack Obama's tenure, Rodas said the HHS sponsoring organization did not allow known gangs or “other objectionable persons” to abuse children. He accused the agency of being a “white glove delivery system'' that allows people to eavesdrop on other people.
“HHS has a proven 10-year record of losing children to sponsors who abuse, exploit, traffic, and harm children in unthinkable ways,” Rodas said in his opening remarks. mentioned in.
Rodas and another HHS whistleblower, Deborah White, told Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) during a roundtable discussion in July, “What? He testified that “billions of taxpayer dollars” had been given to negligent outside contractors. Appropriately vet sponsors.
in A harrowing 171-page report Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced on Tuesday that his staff had found widespread evidence of ORR's reliance on third-party contractors and a weakened sponsor review process. accused of being the cause of misconduct.
“The exploitation of unaccompanied children has been documented for years. The Biden-Harris administration should have amended policies to protect these children, but instead it He subverted it and covered up his mistakes,” Cassidy said, referring to attempts by ORR to cover up his investigation.
“The lack of transparency to the American people is reprehensible. It's hard to see this as anything other than an attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to evade responsibility.”
Hopper also criticized the “Biden-Harris Administration's policies” that “prioritized speed over safety” and “placed children with unvetted sponsors, increasing risk.” he accused.
“Furthermore, the current administration's decision to eliminate DNA testing to confirm familial relationships has created a dangerous loophole that human traffickers are now aware of and actively exploiting,” she testified. did.
This trafficking has also emboldened “ruthless cartels” such as Mexico's Jalisco New Generation.
“No one crosses through without authorization,” said Hopper, who said she had traveled south of the border only to find piles of passports and other identification documents. It shows how many immigrants are abandoning their status and being transported north.
“One of them was the passport of a 5-year-old Colombian girl. It was a haunting reminder of the dangers that children face,” he said, holding it up during the hearing. she remembered. “Smugglers erase migrants' identities and smuggle them into the country under false names.”
Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) demanded: Tuesday's letter He called on Becerra and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to ensure that both agencies preserve all records regarding unaccompanied minors for the incoming Trump administration.
