The United States has been accused of participating in a global child sex trafficking ring. On April 26, 2023, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement held a hearing that entailed the exploitation of unaccompanied alien children (UAC). There were four witnesses who discussed how migrant children have been exploited through a means of gaining access in the States. Just a few weeks ago it became public knowledge that children are working in meat packaging facilities and performing dangerous duties like cleaning meat cutting saws. Most of these children are unaccompanied migrants. Sheena Rodriguez, one of the witnesses from this hearing, states,
"I met and spoke with a 10-year-old Honduran girl who arrived by herself carrying only a small piece of paper with handwritten phone numbers on it. She stated the numbers were given to her by a woman and an NGO along the route who told the young girl the numbers were to her father, who she said that she would be staying with a man the young girl claimed she had never met or spoken to" (Forbes Breaking News, 2023).
From here, these children get placed with dangerous individuals who pose as these children's sponsors. These children will often be subjective to exploitation such as sexual abuse and child labor. These are the terms of this agreement between UAC and their sponsors. These children are 'indebted' to their 'sponsors' who helped them flee their homeland. This exploitation is being utilized as repayment for helping these children get into the States. U.S. Department of Human Health and Services (HHS) whistle-blower, Tara Lee Rodas states that 85,000 migrant children have gone missing (Forbes, 2023). These children could be currently exploited as a direct result of the United States failed oversight, transparency, and accountability on HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Since January of 2021, 356,000 UAC have entered the United States. According to witness Robert Carey, over 85% of sponsors are close family members (Forbes, 2023). About 15% of UAC are not placed with a close family member, and are subsequently in unsafe environments where many become-
"exploited by cartels or put into the child sex trafficking trade" (Forbes, 2023).
Americans are told that most of these children seek immigration to the States because they are fleeing from the dangers of their home countries, only to experience those dangers here. However, many of these children are lured to the U.S. by radio and even Facebook advertisements in their home country that encourage them to come to the U.S. and that there will be sponsorship for them and employment. In fact, the gangs and cartels that used to operate in countries like El Salvador have moved to operate within the U.S., because the U.S. will deliver these children directly to them. The U.S. plays a vital role in those 15% of UAC being placed in dangerous situations.
This is not something unique to any one president nor their administrations. It is evident that this has been ongoing for years. In fact, there is evidence that displays in 2014, teens were being lured from Guatemala, then put into slave labor conditions where they would be held at gunpoint and threatened with their families being murdered. The United States has no vetting process to stop and prevent these children from being placed in dangerous settings. In fact, the U.S. does not send anyone to visit these homes prior to children being placed in them. Once these children are placed in these homes, the only type of follow-up is one phone call- which does not verify who is speaking on the other line. However, while this is an issue under both democratic and republican leadership, it was clearly displayed during the Trump administration that migrant children were abusively taken and separated from their families. This was done to deter more UAC from migrating to the U.S. There was no effort made to reunite these children during the Trump administration, and to this day these children remain separated from their families.
As aforementioned, these children are indebted to their sponsors. The cartels that are trafficking these children charge thousands of dollars. These debts are repaid with sexual exploitation and slave labor. The U.S. also has relaxed rules on checks to ensure these children are placed in safe homes. For example, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, background checks for household members are no longer required. These children could be in an environment with several adults that they do not know, and these adults are exploiting them.
The United States is traumatizing kids with massive debts to cartels (Forbes, 2023).
Watch the full hearing here: HHS Whistleblower Testifies On Exploitation Of Unaccompanied Children - YouTube
References
Forbes Breaking News. (2023, April 26). JUST IN: HHS Whistleblower Testifies Before Lawmakers On Exploitation Of Unaccompanied Children [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZBt8hekZts
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