Whistleblower tells Congress that govt is delivering migrant children to human traffickers

A whistleblower who viewed first-hand what she testified is a "Sophisticated network" of child migrant smuggling into forced labor and other forms of slavery is calling on Congress to act to crack down on the U.S. role in that network.

The hearing, "The Biden Border Crisis: Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children," was held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement and included Health and Human Services whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas as a witness.

"I thought I was going to help place children in loving homes. Instead, I discovered that children are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with recruiting in their home country, smuggled to the U.S. border, and ends when delivers a child to a sponsor – some sponsors are criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations. Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income – this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking," Rodas said.

HHS CHIEF 'UNFAMILIAR' WITH REPORTS THAT AGENCY CAN'T CONTACT 85,000 UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT KIDS. According to Customs and Border Protection statistics, the number of unaccompanied alien children who arrive at the border has swelled from 33,239 in fiscal year 2020 to more than 146,000 in fiscal year 2021 and 152,000 in fiscal year 2022.

When child migrants are encountered at the border, they are transferred into the custody of HHS and then united with a sponsor – typically a parent or family member already in the U.S. But the administration has been hit by a number of New York Times reports detailing a rise in child exploitation, where children are forced into the labor force – sometimes to pay back their smuggling costs.

It has led to concerns that, by transporting children to sponsors, the U.S. is involved in child trafficking.

Rodas described how she saw children becoming captive to their "Sponsors" as they couldn't seek help in English or Spanish and sponsors using multiple addresses to obtain sponsorships of children.

"Realizing that we were not offering children the American dream, but instead putting them in modern-day slavery with wicked overlords, was a terrible revelation," Rodas said, adding that her life "Will never be the same" after what she saw.

Republicans have blamed the ongoing crisis on the Biden administration's policies, which they say have encouraged illegal migration and for parents to put their children into the hands of smugglers.

"Congress has given us certain authorities. Our authorities end when we have found a suitable sponsor to place that child with. We try and do some follow-up, but neither the child or the sponsor is actually obligated to follow up with us," he said.

Domestic policy adviser Susan Rice – who left her role this week – responded to the Times report that her team was shown evidence of a growing migrant child labor crisis.

"We were never informed of any kind of systematic problem with child labor or migrant child labor," she said.