The Biden administration claims its border policies are humane and just; in reality, they are anything but. Under Joe Biden, the Mexican cartels are acting with impunity; meanwhile, as he has done for his entire administration, the president is caving to the desires of the far-left flank of the Democratic Party, and innocent children are suffering. While our border remains open, the cartels are monetizing Joe Biden’s failure to lead and raking in $13 billion a year from human trafficking schemes. 

For years, illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the fact that if they attempt to cross the border with minors, they will more likely than not be released into the U.S. while their immigration cases are processed. But now, traffickers are taking advantage of the post-Title 42 chaos and engaging in “child recycling,” a disgusting process in which the same child is exploited repeatedly by illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States. Once these criminals escape into the country, the child is shipped back across the border, only to be abused again by another illegal alien. The Trump administration fought back against this practice and mandated that asylum seekers with accompanying minors take DNA tests to prove that they were a family unit. DNA testing proved an effective way to guard against the exploitation of children, and only took 90 minutes. Those precious minutes could save a migrant child’s life, but President Biden decided they weren’t worth the time. The Biden administration ended DNA testing of illegal immigrants last month, just over two weeks after Title 42 ended. 

Data confirms that illegal immigrants frequently pose as the family members of children to circumvent the system. In one pilot program, 30 percent of the rapid DNA tests of illegal immigrant adults suspected of coming to the border with children who weren’t theirs showed that the adults were in fact unrelated to the accompanying minors. This is a pervasive issue that must be tackled. 

While this administration has refused to take action to combat this crisis, I’m confronting the problem head-on by introducing the End Child Trafficking Now Act. Under my legislation, DHS would be required to deport illegal aliens who refuse this DNA test; moreover, the Department of Health and Human Services would have to process a child as an unaccompanied minor if the child’s connection to an accompanying adult could not be proven. My bill would also require a maximum 10-year prison sentence for all illegal immigrant adults who falsely pose as the family member of a minor. This is a common-sense bill that all senators should get behind. 

Even if this bill becomes law, Biden’s various other open border policies would all but guarantee the continued trafficking of minors across the southern border. This horrible reality particularly affects girls and young women, which is why I introduced the SAVE Girls Act. This bipartisan legislation, which I introduced with Senators Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), creates a $50 million grant program to provide states, localities, and non-governmental organizations with the resources they need to curb trafficking and support survivors. Republicans and Democrats should be united in our desire to end the trafficking of women and girls, and this starts by passing the SAVE Girls Act. This isn’t a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a human rights issue.

Protecting kids is something that all Americans can unite behind. Mexican drug cartels are exploiting Biden’s open border policies, and if no action is taken, things will get much worse. Child trafficking — whether it is across the southern border or within the United States — must be combated. The safety of our children must always come first. 

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