North Houston News

Congressman Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) introduced legislation to prevent the trafficking of unaccompanied migrant children, urging proper vetting and accountability by DHS and HHS and ending exploitation due to the Biden administration's border policies, according to a press release. The bill seeks comprehensive vetting standards of child sponsors, home visits and reporting requirements to safeguard unaccompanied children.

“Unaccompanied migrant children are crossing our border, and the Biden administration’s failed policies have done absolutely nothing to protect them. Instead, these children are released with no follow-up and are being exploited by cartels, resulting in forced labor, sex trafficking and abuse,” Luttrell said. “This cannot be swept under the rug. It is crucial that proper and thorough vetting is implemented at HHS so vulnerable children are placed with responsible adults. Everyone is suffering because of President Biden’s border crisis, and it cannot continue.”

The Biden administration's border policies has exposed migrant children to exploitation by cartels and criminal groups, with over 370,000 unaccompanied children arriving unlawfully, according to the press release. Approximately 60% of unaccompanied migrant children have been targeted by cartels for exploitation, involving child pornography and drug trafficking, according to a study by the Coalition Against Trafficking In Women.

The Stop Human Trafficking of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Act mandates thorough vetting by HHS and DHS before releasing an unaccompanied child to a sponsor, including vetting of prospective sponsors and their households, with provisions such as barring release to illegal sponsors, conducting home visits, implementing monthly reporting to Congress and ensuring accountability for placed children. The Act also introduced by Sens. Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton, aims to prevent exploitation and is now pending in both chambers.

Border Patrol recorded over 149,000 encounters with unaccompanied minors at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, a significant increase from the more than 30,000 encounters in fiscal year 2020, as reported by federal data. Some migrant children, released from federal custody, were discovered to be engaged in hazardous employment, including roles within popular snack factories, prompting the proposed legislation to mandate thorough vetting of sponsors and household adults, restrict sponsorship eligibility for illegal immigrants, establish home visits by the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and hold accountable the placement of children since Biden's inauguration.

The Biden administration struggles with an ongoing influx of unaccompanied minors, facing potential labor trafficking. Border Patrol encounters are approaching 100,000 this fiscal year, with 6,632 children currently being held by HHS, according to News Nation.

In the last two years, over 250,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived in the U.S. Migrant minors below 18 arriving at the U.S. border are managed by HHS and require placement with an authorized sponsor, often a relative, though exceptions exist.