Washington, D.C. (April 27, 2023) - Jessica M. Vaughan, the Center for Immigration Studies’ Director of Policy Studies, testified in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Sub-committee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement on the ways that the border crisis and a dysfunctional Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) placement program have contributed to the “Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children.” Vaughan highlights the scope of the UAC trafficking crisis and presents a list of necessary reforms.

In her opening remarks, Vaughan said:

• Under the Biden border policies, the annual number of UACs referred to HHS custody after crossing illegally has tripled – from an average of 40,000 a year to more than 120,000 in each of the last two years.
• The Biden administration expanded opportunities for the illegal smuggling of minors into the country by dismantling effective policies, which then expanded opportunities for these minors to be trafficked for cheap labor, commercial sex, gang activities, and more.
• The federal government is not capable of constructing a system for the processing and releasing of huge numbers of children.  The fundamental problem is with the law, namely the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), which treats minors who arrive from non-contiguous countries differently than those who arrive from Mexico and Canada, who can be swiftly repatriated to their homes.
• The Biden administration has shut down immigration enforcement at worksites. ICE must be directed and funded to do worksite enforcement activities to focus on the illegal and exploitative employment of UACs.
• Congress should use its appropriations authority to force HHS and DHS to reform the systems to bring them into line with existing standards for child welfare home placements.
• Congress should remove other provisions in the law that entice minors and their parents to come illegally, such as the Special Immigrant Juvenile program, which should be limited to accommodate only those youth who have no responsible parent or guardian to care for them here.

In her testimony, Vaughan writes that “Migrants are enticed by U.S. policies to put themselves, and their children, in risky situations to cross the border illegally, led by criminal smuggling and trafficking organizations, and enabled by government agencies and contractors that have looked the other way at the abuse and exploitation that frequently occurs en route to the United States and after resettlement.” She notes that the reforms included in H.R. 2640, the Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023, introduced by Mr. McClintock and Mr. Biggs, would do much to decrease the flow of child migrants and mitigate the risk of trafficking.

Vaughan highlights that reports and studies have been documenting the UAC migration and exploitation problems, exposing numerous incidents of abuse, fraud and trafficking, since its early stages and well before Biden’s policy changes. She provides links to ten reports.