Senate Republicans blasted the “open border” policies of President Joe Biden during a Thursday press conference, saying that his policies were allowing sex trafficking and the flow of drugs across the border.
A group of Senate Republicans tore into Biden over the border, highlighting reports that the administration had been unable to make contact with the sponsors of roughly 85,000 children who had illegally come across the border and then been released into the U.S.
“Of the 300,000 children who have been placed with sponsors in the United States,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said. “In 85,000 of those placements the 30-day wellness call that is typically made by the Administration went unanswered. Not only does the Biden Administration not know where 300,000 children currently reside – whether they are going to school, whether they are getting health care, whether they are being recruited for gangs, whether they are being trafficked for sex, or just simply neglected or abused – the Biden Administration doesn’t know, and the truth is they don’t care.”
As record numbers of unaccompanied minors have crossed from Mexico into the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services has lost contact with about 85,000 children and was unable to make contact with the children’s guardians. According to an April report from the New York Times, many of these children are ending up as underage workers.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that Biden was culpable for allowing the illicit trafficking, referencing testimony about a young boy who was found left in the field with a phone number on his shoe.
“We’re not talking about that enough. We’re not talking about the human depredation as a result of President Biden’s open border policy. His open border policy is facilitating the multi-billion-dollar business model of some of the most evil people on the planet,” Johnson said. “It’s about $18 billion we are funneling to these human trafficking, sex traffickers, and drug traffickers.”
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In June, there were 211,575 encounters at the border, meaning over 7,000 people were crossing into the U.S. each day. However, some analysts have said that this number is low, saying that many others have been allowed to enter using the CBP One app or directed to other points of entry where they would be classified differently.
“Those who are entering through these back channels illegally created by the administration are still illegal aliens and still impose the same burdens on communities and taxpayers struggling to cope with the impact of Biden’s policies. The June encounter numbers are hardly cause for celebration, but rather another example of the administration’s resolute effort to maintain an open-borders policy while claiming they are controlling it,” Federation for American Immigration President Dan Stein said in a statement.