First appearance on Fox: Nearly two dozen Republican attorneys general say they have “reason to believe” that some human trafficking is occurring, following “scorching” reports that 85,000 migrant children are missing. ”, imploring the Biden administration to take action.
In a letter sent Monday, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary of Health and Human Services Alejandro Mayorkas: (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and FBI Director Christopher Wray: “The United States must stop handing over children to ‘potential human traffickers.'”
“Losing 85,000 children is like losing the entire population of Sioux City, Iowa. This is unacceptable,” Byrd told FOX News Digital in a statement. “As a mother, it pains me to know that many of these missing children are trapped in forced labor and exploited by violent sex traffickers. It is the federal government’s job to keep these children safe. is.”
“President Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services has been sounding the alarm that unaccompanied children are being released into dangerous situations, but has been unwilling or unable to develop strategies to address these concerns. “Fitch told FOX News Digital. “This could be one of the greatest tragedies caused by the chaos they have caused at the border.”
Biden, Trump to shut down U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday as immigration crisis disrupts election
Hundreds of immigrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan early Monday morning, July 31, 2023. (via Luis C. Ribeiro, NY Daily News, Getty Images)
“President Biden’s border crisis is reaching levels we have never seen before. To make matters worse, the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than 85,000 migrant children have entered our country in the past two years. ”, the AGs wrote.
“The report states that many of these children are forced into the labor market, where they are forced to work debilitating long hours in dangerous conditions in violation of child labor laws; and sex trafficking,” they said.
Republican AGs cited a report released earlier this month by the HHS Office of Inspector General, calling it “harsh.” The report found “serious problems with safety concerns for unaccompanied children” and found that “more than one in five children do not receive timely safety screenings required by sponsors.” “I explained it.”
“In more than a third of cases, identification provided by the sponsor raised concerns. Some children were released without home schooling. Investigators later found the home vacant or unoccupied. He was released to his home.”
”[We] Because there is reason to believe that some of the 85,000 missing children are trafficked. That can’t continue. “However, since this news surfaced, neither the Department of Health and Human Services nor the Department of Homeland Security has provided a plan to identify and protect these vulnerable children,” the AGs said.
“The trafficking of minors cannot continue. We demand a response to this crisis,” they added.
Poll finds most Americans call illegal immigration a ‘very serious problem’
Asylum seekers wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the U.S. in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 30. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and FBI did not immediately respond to FOX News Digital’s requests for comment.
“Parents send their children to the United States alone in search of a better life. Some come to escape war, others to escape gangs and violence,” the AGs wrote.
“By law, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for ensuring the safety of children upon arrival, including reuniting them with their families and placing them with sponsors who will protect them from trafficking and exploitation. But the Department of Health and Human Services is not living up to its responsibilities and the cost of its failures is tens of thousands of children going missing,” they charged.
The AGs say HHS has “relaxed its screening procedures,” and as a result, “thousands of children are now victims of forced labor and sex trafficking.”
ICE confirms Georgia student murder suspect entered the country illegally and was previously arrested in New York
Migrants attempt to cross the Mexico-U.S. border despite increased security in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on February 1, 2024. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“They spend their time in this country doing dangerous and sometimes inhumane work, deprived of necessities like sleep and food, and denied access to education. Many face life-altering injuries and death. even,” they said.
One recent example they cited was of a 16-year-old man who was crushed under an earthmoving machine near Atlanta, Georgia. Another example is a 14-year-old man who was hit by a car while delivering food on his bicycle in Brooklyn, New York. And another 15-year-old boy died after falling 50 feet on his first day of work at a roofing company.
Click here to download the FOX News app
They also point to numerous cases in Texas of young women brought across the border and quickly placed into sex-trafficking rings.
“This cannot happen in a country that claims to value both children and the rule of law,” they said.
