The Trump administration has managed to locate and rescue over 13,000 immigrant children who arrived at the border without their parents.
In a stern move, immigration officials have also arrested numerous sponsors of these immigrants who were allegedly involved in serious crimes and child abuse while caring for these minors.
In one particularly alarming case, agents from Newark’s Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained sponsors who were found to be fugitives from Guatemala facing serious charges back home, including aggravated attempted murder.
Adelso Garcia Martinez, 29, was taken into custody on May 13.
“It’s upsetting to think about a fugitive leading a child to seek illegal refuge in the US. I guess I’ll just sponsor someone else later,” he said post-arrest.
An unsettling report released in August indicated that the Biden-Harris administration lost contact with over 320,000 immigrant children who crossed the US-Mexico border.
Many unaccompanied minors were released into the US with no scheduled court dates, making it impossible to track where they went, or they simply failed to show up for their court appearances.
Additionally, many children were handed over to unverified sponsors, leaving them vulnerable to various forms of exploitation including sex trafficking and forced labor, as highlighted in a report by the Department of Homeland Security General.
In February, the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Department initiated an investigation into the alarming number of unaccompanied minors at risk of falling prey to predators due to inadequate vetting processes.
“The children are being rescued,” officials from the Trump administration stated about efforts to locate those lost under the previous government.
In another distressing case, a 15-year-old girl was rescued in New York after being sponsored by an Ecuadorian man; he had plans for her mother to live with him, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
This man had been involved with the girl since she was just 13, and he had exploited her prior to her crossing the southern border. His mother had sponsored the teen along with him, creating a disturbing living situation. Homeland Security agents arrested the predator on May 28.
An HHS source noted that under the Trump administration, ICE has arrested 422 sponsors accused of abusing minors or committing other crimes.
“Despite keeping our borders open and encouraging unlawful entry, Biden has facilitated the largest human trafficking operation in contemporary history,” claimed Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem in a recent statement.
She emphasized that eradicating human trafficking targeting the US is possible and that collaboration at all governmental levels under President Trump’s leadership is key to combating this issue.
When children cross the border illegally without parents, border agents detain them and hand them over to HHS, which then assists in finding suitable sponsors.
Interestingly, the sponsors don’t have to be family members.
Those rescued children will either be reunited with their families back home or placed with foster parents, as per reports.
Tom Homan, a former acting director of ICE, recently shared troubling stories on Miranda Devine’s “Pod Force One” podcast about children in desperate situations.
“We’ve saved victims of sex trafficking, including a 14-year-old who was already pregnant and living with an adult male,” he revealed.
“We’ve also uncovered forced labor cases, discovering children working on ranches and chicken farms here instead of going to school,” he continued.
“Some of the kids we encountered were actually working alongside their families … they just didn’t respond to court summons because they were afraid of the repercussions,” he added.
Even after being briefed on these serious incidents involving immigrant minors, reports suggest that the Biden administration has not taken significant action to address the ongoing problems, according to a Homeland Security Inspector report.
