U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has raised questions about an AP News post, which stated that U.S. Sen. Katie Britt's (R-Ala.) Republican response to the State of the Union address referenced decades-old accounts of sexual abuse of migrants. A 2023 House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, led by U.S. Rep. Mark E. Green (R-Tenn.), scrutinized the Biden administration's open-border policies, underlining concerns over increased human trafficking.
"Is AP denying that girls and women are routinely, systematically raped while being trafficked into the United States by drug cartels, and in many cases held against their will and subjected to sex slavery after they arrive," said Senator Mike Lee, U.S. Senator from Utah, according to X.
Lee expressed his doubts on a social media platform, along with the AP post stating, "Katie Britt used decades-old example of rapes in Mexico as Republican attack on Biden border policy."
Senator Mike Lee's post on X
| https://twitter.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1766653891054088555
According to a 2022 report by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Mexican cartels operate outside conventional international norms and have infiltrated various sectors of the Mexican economy. The author of the report, Alex Zemek, wrote about how these cartels' activities - from drug trafficking to theft from oil pipelines - have far-reaching human consequences including homicides, violence and human trafficking networks. Zemek further stated that these criminal activities contribute to a range of societal issues such as increased human trafficking and erosion of trust in public officials.
Vice reported that cartels involved in human smuggling are increasingly depending on Americans to facilitate the migration flow into the U.S., driven by economic incentives. This shift is evidenced by an over 80% spike in apprehensions of Americans for human smuggling in the El Paso border sector over the past three to four years.
In September 2023, under Chairman Green's leadership, the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on border crisis and child trafficking. Green emphasized that current border policies are exacerbating cartel activities including exploitation of vulnerable individuals and forcing young boys into labor or sex trafficking as repayment to cartels.
As per his official website, Lee was elected in 2010 and currently serves as the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. He also serves on the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining and the Committee on the Budget.
