Crisis Of Enslaved Migrant Kids Should Disqualify Biden From A Second Term

ith many of the released children, who were vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Despite these warnings, the Biden administration continued to prioritize optics over the safety and well-being of these children.

President Joe Biden has announced his bid for a second term, but his first term has been plagued with policy failures. From record-high inflation to America’s diminishing global influence, Biden’s open-border policy has caused significant harm to our nation’s security and the well-being of U.S. citizens and migrants. Even left-leaning corporate media, which usually supports him, is now demanding accountability.

In her latest report, Hannah Dreier of The New York Times holds the Biden administration responsible for causing the migrant child labor crisis and ignoring data and repeated warnings from concerned government workers and nonprofits. The White House has responded by announcing that Susan Rice, the most senior White House official responsible for immigration, is stepping down. However, Rice’s exit will not end the current crisis because the ultimate responsibility lies with Biden and the immigration policies he supports.

Since taking office, Biden’s open-border policy has led to historically high illegal border crossings, including by more than 250,000 children. Most came from Central America and were either sent by their parents or trafficked by smugglers to the U.S. In 2021, Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), urged his staff to speed up releasing migrant children to their American sponsors, despite concerns that the overcrowded shelters would bring bad optics for the Biden administration. His underlings responded by loosening the vetting process of these sponsors.

Concern Among HHS Staff

Some HHS employees soon learned that “children were being released to adults who had lied about their identities, or who planned to exploit them,” the Times reported. “Adults were sponsoring multiple children, and minors were working instead of attending school.” Staff also became alarmed by how quickly they lost touch with many of the released children, who were vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Despite these warnings, the Biden administration continued to prioritize optics over the safety and well-being of these children.

Within a month of being released to their sponsors, the whereabouts of many migrant children (some as young as 12) became unknown. Shockingly, reports suggest that these children were forced into indentured labor, working long hours in terrible conditions in factories, hotels, construction sites, and other businesses across the United States. The only way for these children to seek help was to call an HHS hotline, which saw a staggering 1,300% increase in reports of human trafficking over the past five years. It’s alarming to note that HHS staff, many of whom are Democrats, felt worse about the situation under the Biden administration than Trump’s. One whistleblower even warned of a catastrophic event if nothing was done, but senior officials chose to fire whistleblowers instead of taking action.

Despite reports of migrant children being exploited in U.S. factories reaching Biden’s point person on immigration, Rice, as early as the summer of 2021, no action was taken. Even after the U.S. Labor Department reported a 69% increase in child labor violations since 2018, Rice and her team failed to recognize the growing crisis. Criticized for their lack of curiosity or conscientious thinking, the administration’s inaction is unacceptable.

It’s ironic that Biden and his administration have lectured Americans about slavery being America’s original sin and the need to adopt policies favoring some racial groups over others to redeem ourselves. Yet, when information about enslaved migrant children emerged, the administration responded dismissively and indifferently. Even after the Times published an investigative report of over 100 enslaved migrant children’s experiences in the U.S., the White House only reacted by announcing a crackdown on migrant child labor. However, this proposal may only help some migrant children temporarily and offers no long-term solution. It’s time for the administration to take real action and protect these vulnerable children.Attention all! We need to make some serious policy changes to address the issue of migrant child labor. It’s time to eliminate policies that incentivize parents and human traffickers to bring kids to the U.S. We can start by taking a closer look at the 2008 anti-trafficking law, which ensures that migrant children who come to the United States won’t be turned away or sent back. While this may seem like a good thing, the reality is that our immigration courts are so backlogged that these children end up waiting years for a hearing. In the meantime, they live in the U.S. just like Americans, with little threat of deportation and access to a decent education. It’s no wonder families in Central America are sending their kids here in droves.

To make matters worse, the number of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has skyrocketed since the anti-trafficking law went into effect. Even CNN has concluded that this law “contributes to the surge of child migrants from Central America overwhelming the U.S. immigration system.” And let’s not forget about President Obama’s twin executive orders, which only made things worse. After creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended twice as many unaccompanied minors in 2014 than in 2012. And after announcing the expansion of DACA and the creation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) in 2014, Border Patrol encountered a whopping 100,000 children along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2015 and 2016.

It’s clear that our well-intentioned policies are responsible for this mess. Even Rice agrees that our generosity to unaccompanied migrant children is leading to “voluntary” separation from their families. As a longtime U.S. senator and the vice president under President Obama, Biden had a front-row seat in witnessing how these policies he supported have incentivized more migrants, especially children, to take the dangerous journey to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and how many were subject to exploitation once they arrived. Yet, after he became president, Biden chose to double down on these failed policies with the assistance of the same Democrat operatives from the Obama administration. It’s time for a change, folks. Let’s fix this mess before it’s too late.The current immigration crisis is one of the most devastating events in our nation’s history. The recent reports from The New York Times about enslaved migrant children serve as a stark reminder that the most vulnerable members of our society often bear the brunt of policy failures.

Despite his lengthy career in public service, President Biden has shown little interest, capability, or political will to fix our broken immigration system and secure our borders. Instead, he has only made a bad situation much worse. It’s clear that he doesn’t deserve another term in office.

If you’re looking for insightful commentary on current events, look no further than Helen Raleigh. As an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker, she’s a senior contributor at The Federalist and her writings have appeared in other national media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. Check out her books, including “Confucius Never Said” and “Backlash: How Communist China’s Aggression Has Backfired.” You can also follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks.

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