By Ilan Hulkower. Media: DC Enquirer.
Note: This article may contain commentary reflecting the author’s opinion.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement will be holding an important titled “The Biden Border Crisis: Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children” on Wednesday, per Fox News. This subcommittee will be exploring the surge of unaccompanied children (UACs) at the country’s open southern border- where so far there have been over 70,000 encounters with UACs. A key witness at this hearing will be a whistleblower from the Department of Health and Human Services, Tara Lee Rhodes. A copy of her written testimony that was obtained by Fox News reveals that she accuses the government of acting as the middleman.
The document states that “Today, children will work overnight shifts at slaughterhouses, factories, restaurants to pay their debts to smugglers and traffickers. Today, children will be sold for sex. Today, children will call a hotline to report they are being abused, neglected, and trafficked. For nearly a decade, unaccompanied children have been suffering in the shadows. I thought I was going to help place children in loving homes. Instead, I discovered that children are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with being recruited in their home country, smuggled to the U.S. border, and ends when ORR delivers a child to a sponsor – some sponsors are criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
Her written testimony further stated that “Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income – this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking. Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the U.S. Government has become the middleman in a large scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children.”
Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, sought to downplay the severity of the problem last month before Congress. When confronted with the claim that his agency was unable to make contact with 85,000 children, he was recorded as saying that “I have never heard that number of 85,000, I don’t know where it comes from and … so I would say it doesn’t sound at all to be realistic, and what we do is we try and follow up as best we can with these kids.”
Yet, the 85,000 number comes from Becerra’s own agency! As noted by Hannah Dreier, an investigative reporter for the New York Times who broke the story over the 85,000 children that the agency was unable to contact, “[i]n several congressional hearings, HHS Secretary Becerra has been asked about our reporting that HHS couldn’t reach 85,000 migrant children right after releasing them. He says he doesn’t know where those numbers come from. For what it’s worth, they’re from the HHS press office.”
In several congressional hearings, HHS Secretary Becerra has been asked about our reporting that HHS couldn't reach 85,000 migrant children right after releasing them.
He says he doesn't know where those numbers come from. For what it's worth, they're from the HHS press office. pic.twitter.com/IZYPjl29cU
— Hannah Dreier (@hannahdreier) March 29, 2023
Yet, it does not appear that the Biden administration is changing course with respect to its open borders policy. As Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ), a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, noted on Twitter: “The Biden Administration is expected to lift Title 42 on May 11 and the move will create an unprecedented wave of illegal migration. If this is Yuma, Arizona, from last summer, May 12 will look 100x worse. The Biden Administration cannot continue down this path.”
The Biden Administration is expected to lift Title 42 on May 11 and the move will create an unprecedented wave of illegal migration.
If this is Yuma, Arizona, from last summer, May 12 will look 100x worse.
The Biden Administration cannot continue down this path. pic.twitter.com/Jhn2vT9yen
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 25, 2023