Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said children are continually being trafficked at the U.S.-Mexico border by the cartels. On July 26, Cline said the policies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are at fault.
“Countless unaccompanied minors are being trafficked across the southern border by criminal cartels, putting their lives at stake," Cline said on X Corp., formerly known as Twitter. "They are being sacrificed on an altar of RADICAL policies pushed by DHS. Yet Secretary Mayorkas just continues to deflect and deny."
According to the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. received 150,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) last year, and the number of UACs entering each month in 2023 stands at approximately 12,000. The article said around 60% of these UACs are apprehended and exploited by cartels for illicit activities like child pornography and drug trafficking.
Furthermore, the Heritage Foundation reported the current border policies and standards have led to more children falling into the hands of cartels and other criminal entities. Additionally, many children are being sent to "family members" they have never encountered before due to the prevailing circumstances.
Congressmen have been discussing the issue of human trafficking, specifically child trafficking, repeatedly as of late. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, have spoken on the issue, Federal Newswire reported. Hunt said 85,000 unaccompanied minors who have crossed into the U.S. via the southern border have disappeared.
“Some of my colleagues on the Left say that the global sex trafficking of children is a Q-Anon conspiracy," Hunt told Federal Newswire. "What is happening is grotesque, it is wrong, and if we can’t protect our children, then we absolutely have no future.”
According to the New York Post, the movie “Sound of Freedom,” a true story about Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent fighting against child trafficking, has continually been labeled as Q-Anon. However, the Post reported Ballard himself said, "'Sound of Freedom’ at its core, is a message about protecting children from child-trafficking cartels,” and said “this movie wasn’t designed to be political.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted, “The Sound of Freedom is more than a movie. It’s a call to action to combat child trafficking wherever the evil exists.”
According to X Corp., Angel Studios, maker of “Sound of Freedom,” posted an interview with Mira Sorvino, an Academy Award-winning actress who was a part of the movie.
“This is not about politics," Sorvino said. "This is not about one party or one president or one philosophy. Please don’t politicize this issue, child sex trafficking is not a political issue. This is just about being a good person who doesn’t want to see children hurt. And there are good people on every side of the political spectrum.”
However, according to the Heritage Foundation, the Biden administration’s policies at the border continue to attract UACs, such as Section 235 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act which says the U.S. will not expel unaccompanied minors from the country.
