Attorney General Knudsen demands answers from Biden administration on trafficking of migrant children
HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined 21 other attorneys general in urging the Biden administration to ensure it is not handing over unaccompanied migrant children to criminals and sex traffickers following a report that shows the federal government cannot find tens of thousands of migrant children who entered the United States over the last two years.
The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for keeping migrant children safe when they arrive in the United States. However, a recent report issued by the HHS Office of Inspector General that found unaccompanied migrant children in the custody of the federal government are being released into unsafe situations, including into human trafficking.
In a letter sent Monday the attorneys general ask Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray to answer questions to help account for 85,000 missing migrant children by May 1.
“Our States have a strong interest in enforcing the law within our borders. That includes ensuring that companies follow child labor laws and legal guardians comply with child abuse and neglect laws. We are also dedicated to fighting against human trafficking and are outraged that victims now include children that were in the federal government’s care,” the attorneys general wrote.
The HHS’ Officer of Inspector General recently reported that for more than one-in-five children crossing the southern border, sponsor safety checks were neglected. HHS confirmed in its report that more than one-third of the children for whom the appropriate safety checks were performed, sponsor information was flagged with significant safety concerns, and still no action was taken by federal agents.
A February 2023 New York Times report shows many of the missing children were released to traffickers and forced to work under excruciating conditions which violate U.S. child-labor laws and often result in serious injury or death, while numerous others are trapped in sex slavery. The investigation revealed that the federal government knowingly allowed these unaccompanied minors into the country and released them without proper vetting or home and safety checks.
“The Department of Health and Human Services must ensure that it is not handing over children to criminals and sex traffickers. It cannot do so if it does not know to whom it is handing these children. Even worse, is that it appears to have no idea where those children are being sent. Missing children must be identified, and potential sponsors must be vetted,” the attorneys general wrote.
Attorneys General from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia also signed the letter, which was co-led by attorneys general in Mississippi, Iowa, and Utah.
Read the letter here.
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