Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

BOB UNANUE AND MAYRA FLORES: Inhuman Trade Of Smuggling Children To Our Border Surged Under Biden-Harris

Migrants crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States. (Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

In the shadows of our nation, a grim reality persists. More than 525,000 unaccompanied alien children have fallen prey to human traffickers at our southern border, their futures sold for profit in a $150 billion-a-year industry. This inhumane trade has surged under the Biden-Harris administration which lost contact with more than 85,000 illegal migrant children released to poorly vetted adult “sponsors.”

When President Joe Biden assigned Vice President Kamala Harris in March 2021 “to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that…need help in…stemming the migration to our southern border,” many hoped her leadership would bring order to that chaotic border. Instead, Harris has treated the role as a mere formality, offering little in terms of solutions.

From the darkest corners of the internet to the streets of American communities, these innocent souls are subjected to horrors — sexual exploitation, forced labor, and organ trafficking, among others. The U.S. is a top destination for child trafficking, and the Hispanic community bears the brunt of the problem. The Biden-Harris Administration’s open-border policies have allowed Hispanic children to be subjected to grueling labor and exploitation.

Here is just one tragic example. In May 2021, a Border Patrol agent apprehended 16-year-old Emilia near Yuma, Arizona, after illegally crossing the border. She was from Honduras. Under the Biden-Harris administration’s policies, she was placed with a “family friend” in Georgia without proper vetting, and he allegedly sexually assaulted her. Emilia’s story highlights the dangers faced by children placed in the care of adults they barely know. The plight of Hispanic children often goes unnoticed, buried beneath political indifference.

Who enables this monstrous enterprise? The Biden-Harris administration. The same administration that swore to offer a “compassionate” immigration policy. Instead, their open-border policies have facilitated the trafficking of Hispanic migrant children, trapping them in a cycle of agony and exploitation.

“Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the U.S. government has become the middleman in a large scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children,” whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas testified last year before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s indifference is evident. In a chilling display of heartlessness, Becerra compared the process of releasing unaccompanied alien children to Henry Ford’s assembly lines: “If Henry Ford had seen this in his plants, he would have never become famous and rich. This is not the way you do an assembly line.”

As the Biden-Harris administration approaches the end of its term, the American people continue to grapple with the devastating consequences of their open border policies. Tasked with addressing the border crisis, Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democrat nominee for president, chose inaction. The results have been unprecedented surges in illegal immigration, an overwhelmed Border Patrol, and a horrific increase in human and drug trafficking.

There is no doubt that the Biden-Harris administration’s policies have directly contributed to this crisis. Suspending the Remain in Mexico program, halting border wall construction, and implementing a nationwide catch-and-release scheme has sent a clear message to human smugglers: the U.S. borders are open. The reversal of effective Trump-era border security policies has encouraged more illegal crossings, placing illegal migrants in dangerous situations and American communities in danger.

The American people deserve leaders who put America first and take the border crisis seriously, not ones who shirk their responsibilities. We need policies that protect children and the safety and security of our citizens, not ones that cater to political agendas at the expense of human lives.

It is time to hold Harris and the entire administration accountable for the humanitarian disaster they have created. Harris, whom Biden tasked with working to stem illegal immigration, bears significant responsibility for the suffering and chaos at our southern border and the failure across the federal government to solve the problem. This is not just a political issue but a matter of national security and human dignity. It is time to secure our borders, protect our communities and end the horrors of human trafficking once and for all.

Bob Unanue serves as a board member for the America First Policy Institute and chair of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Goya Foods and Goya Cares and served as Executive Producer of the movie Sound of Freedom.

Mayra Flores represented Texas’ 34th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023. She is a member of the America First Policy Institute’s Hispanic Leadership Coalition.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured image credit: Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)