OPINION:
In the shadows of our nation, a grim reality persists. Tens of thousands of Hispanic migrant children in the U.S. have fallen prey to the depraved clutches of human traffickers, their futures sold for profit and power in a $150 billion-a-year industry, with an administration complicit in putting them in what amounts to chains of modern-day slavery.
From the darkest corners of the internet and social media to the seedy underbelly of our streets, these innocent souls are subjected to unspeakable horrors — sexual exploitation, forced labor, organ trafficking, even the draining of their lifeblood. The U.S. is the top destination for child trafficking. The Hispanic community, sadly, bears the brunt of targeting and exploitation, serving as pawns in the hands of the morally bankrupt — akin to sheep led to slaughter. This insidious trade thrives under the neglectful gaze of the Biden administration.
The very conditions that make Hispanic migrants susceptible to exploitation have been exacerbated to unprecedented levels. The Biden administration’s spineless, open-border policies have effectively created a chain gang of Hispanic children, where grueling labor and abhorrent acts of exploitation run rampant. In our country, traffickers are targeting Hispanics the most for this evil practice. With Hispanics projected to become the largest minority group by 2050 and the U.S. the biggest consumer of child exploitation, this poses a grave threat to our nation’s safety and security.
In May 2021, a Border Patrol agent arrested 16-year-old Emilia near Yuma, Arizona, for illegally crossing the border from Honduras. She was placed with a family friend in Georgia without proper vetting after the Biden administration cut standards to streamline release, who proceeded to sexually assault her multiple times — including once when Emilia was unconscious after the sponsor served her alcoholic drinks.
Emilia’s story and allegations of sexual assault point to situations that arise after children are placed in the care of adults they barely know, with no checks to guarantee they are treated well. We hear of many cases like this daily without much fanfare. The plight of Hispanic children often goes unnoticed, buried beneath the political machinations and callous indifference of those in power.
Who enables this monstrous enterprise? While the Biden administration swore to protect the American people, its do-nothing, open-border policies have effectively facilitated the trafficking of Hispanic children, turning the federal government into a complicit middleman in this multibillion-dollar industry. The administration has aided in trapping Hispanic migrant children in a cycle of agony and exploitation.
As executive producer of the film “Sound of Freedom,” I witnessed the devastating impact of child trafficking — a scourge that ravages lives and communities worldwide. This powerful film reinforced my resolve not only to shed light on this evil but also to actively work toward solutions that protect the innocence and freedom of our children.
Last year, whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas exposed the grim reality of children toiling in slaughterhouses and being sold into the nightmarish world of trafficking for sex and forced labor. Yet what has been done to halt this torrent of horror? Nothing.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s callous indifference reverberates through the halls of power as unaccompanied alien children are treated as commodities on an assembly line, their well-being sacrificed for the sake of expediency. In a chilling display of heartlessness, comparing the process of releasing unaccompanied alien children to Henry Ford’s assembly lines, Mr. Becerra said: “If Henry Ford had seen this in his plants, he would have never become famous and rich. This is not the way you do an assembly line.”
We cannot remain passive spectators as children are bought and sold like slaves. For every child ensnared in the web of trafficking, a piece of their innocence is forever lost. We must embrace a comprehensive America First approach to border security, reinstating policies like the Migrant Protection Protocols and asylum cooperative agreements abandoned by the Biden administration, and the government must resume DNA testing of sponsors claiming a familial relationship to an unaccompanied alien child. It is only then that we can begin to strip human traffickers of the tools they use to exploit children for profit.
Let us stand united in defense of the most vulnerable among us, refusing to betray the values that define us as a nation. Anything less is a surrender to the malevolent forces that seek to corrupt and annihilate all that we hold dear.
• Bob Unanue serves as a board member for the America First Policy Institute and chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition. He is president and chief executive officer of Goya Foods and Goya Cares and served as executive producer of the movie “Sound of Freedom.”
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