GOP Senators Push Border Fingerprinting of Migrant Children
GOP Senators Push Border Fingerprinting of Migrant Children
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is introducing legislation that would give border officials the ability to fingerprint children as part of an effort to stop child trafficking.
Charlie McCarthy - NOV 7, 2023
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is introducing legislation that would give border officials the ability to fingerprint children as part of an effort to stop child trafficking.
Blackburn and 17 co-sponsors have signed the Preventing the Recycling of Immigrants is Necessary for Trafficking Suspension (PRINTS) Act, which gives U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) the authority to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14.
The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report the number of apprehensions each month in which a person falsely claims a child with whom they were traveling is a relative.
"Under President [Joe] Biden’s open border policies, we are witnessing a devastating humanitarian crisis, and children are the primary victims," Blackburn said in a statement.
"Abusing and using a child again and again is one of the most heinous acts imaginable, and yet it happens every day along the southern border. Empowering border patrol agents to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14 would give them the tools they need to identify victims of child recycling and stop this abuse in its tracks. Given that the Biden administration just carelessly lost track of 85,000 migrant children, passing this legislation could not be more critical."
The legislation requires the DHS to submit an annual report to Congress identifying the number of minors who are fingerprinted, and removes the attorney general's authority to waive fingerprinting requirements for those illegally crossing the southern border.
It also criminalizes child "recycling," in which children are used repeatedly to allow non-related adult migrants to appear to be part of a family unit.
Co-sponsors on the legislation include Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, John Hoeven, R-N.D., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Katie Britt, R-Ala., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
"President Biden's border crisis has enabled human traffickers and cartels to exploit children with impunity," Cassidy said in a statement. "We need to give Border Patrol every tool we can to help them stop human traffickers and save young lives."
The New York Times reported earlier this year that the Department of Health and Human Services has lost track of more than 85,000 children released to sponsors, exposing these children to exploitation, abuse, and forced labor.
The senators' press release referenced 2019, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified 600 children who were “recycled,” with one child being brought across the border as many as eight times.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/border-fingerprinting-children/2023/11/07/id/1141333/