Washington, D.C. (Wednesday, April 27, 2022) -- Jessica M. Vaughan, the Center for Immigration Studies’ Director of Policy Studies, testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, on the ways that the border crisis and dysfunctional catch and release policies facilitate human trafficking.   President Biden has said ending human trafficking at border would be a top priority for his national security agenda. But his new plan, as outlined by DHS Secretary Mayorkas on Tuesday, means that our government will continue to act like a partner to the traffickers.
 
Lenient policies that allow children and families who cross illegally to be released into the United States with few questions asked only encourage traffickers to exploit them.  The traffickers often lure migrants to the U.S. with the promise of employment. Oftentimes, they end up forced to work off their debt to smugglers. Meanwhile, the surge of migrants at the border has overwhelmed Border Patrol, degrading the screening process, making it harder to detect trafficking.
 
Says Vaughan: “The Biden policies turn the government into a partner of the human traffickers, and this will only get worse if the new Mayorkas plan goes into action.  It’s wrong to have policies that entice migrants to put themselves at risk to come here illegally, and unfair to the communities that have to absorb this.”
 
The Biden administration’s policies on placement of unaccompanied minors, which emphasize swift release from custody over the safety and well-being of the minor, have failed to protect vulnerable children from trafficking and exposed them to abuse.   Vaughan notes that the proliferation of MS-13, which seeks out and preys on other illegal immigrant teens, resulted in an increase in brutal sex trafficking in the Washington DC area.
 
Vaughan provides numerous examples of human trafficking linked to border policies, and provides recommendations for changes, especially reforms to asylum laws, the handling of unaccompanied minors, and temporary visa programs. “Congress and the President have many options available to them to prevent, deter and better detect human trafficking.  In general, if the government can better control illegal immigration and legal visa programs, it will better control human trafficking.”