Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), a member of The Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, criticized the Biden Administration’s border policies and said that child trafficking is a major issue. In a subcommittee hearing on July 13 which discussed the consequences of criminals entering the country illegally, Hunt said that the problem of human trafficking is worse than the surface issues of drug trafficking and cartel activity.
“According to The NY Times at least 85k unaccompanied minors that were trafficked across our southern border have VANISHED. This is not some conspiracy theory, it’s a cold hard FACT brought to you by Biden’s open border policies,” Hunt tweeted.
According to the Heritage Foundation, human trafficking is a business present around the world that creates $150 billion in illegal funds. Since FY 2022, human trafficking arrests have risen by 50% and convictions have risen by 80%. Immigrants make up 72% of those trafficked in the U.S. The article claims that many of these totals are women and children.
Last year 150,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) entered the US, and there are around 12,000 UACs entering monthly in 2023. The article reported that approximately 60% of UACs are caught and used by the cartels for child pornography or drug trafficking. The Heritage Foundation said that the current border policies and standards have resulted in more children falling into the hands of cartels and others and have seen many children sent to “family members” who the children have never seen before.
According to the Heritage Foundation, the Trump administration authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct DNA tests at the border on groups of immigrants and children who were "familial units” in order to combat child trafficking. More than 6,000 cases of fraudulent families were found due to this initiative. However, the article reported that President Biden chose to terminate the program.
Hunt's tweet included a video of a hearing in which he said, “I have also heard some of my colleagues on the left say that the global sex trafficking of children is a Q-Anon conspiracy. What is happening is grotesque, it is wrong, and if we can’t protect our children… then we absolutely have no future.”
Owen Gleiberman wrote an opinion piece for Variety about the recently released movie “Sound of Freedom.”
Gleiberman said, “you needn’t hold extreme beliefs to experience 'Sound of Freedom' as a compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.”
“Sound of Freedom” informs viewers that human trafficking is “the fastest growing international criminal network the world has ever seen. A closing title states — accurately — that there are more people enslaved now, by sex trafficking, than there were when slavery was legal. And the nightmare lived by captured children is unspeakable, unimaginable…and all too real. Let’s be clear: This matters more than the cocaine or opioids industry,” Gleiberman concluded.
