DC Exclusives - Original ReportingDepartment of Homeland SecurityDonald TrumpFeaturedImmigrationImmigration and Customs EnforcementJoe BidenNancy MaceNewsletter: Politics and ElectionsOffice of Refugee ResettlementPolitics

EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Mace Introduces Bill To Create Anti-Trafficking Program For Unaccompanied Alien Children

Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace has introduced legislation to create the Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) Anti-Trafficking Program, according to a press release obtained by Daily Caller .

Mace’s bill, titled the “No More Missing Children Act,” establishes a UAC Anti-Trafficking Program designed to protect UAC’s from trafficking, kidnapping and exploitation.

“The Biden Administration’s reckless negligence left UAC to roam a lawless system, preyed upon by traffickers, predators, and cartels,” Mace said in a statement. “As a mother and a lawmaker, we refuse to sit by while children are exploited. Building on President Trump’s mission to rescue missing children, our No More Missing Children Act restores law and order and takes the fight to the criminals exploiting our immigration system.” (RELATED: Tom Homan Explains How Biden Admin Made Lost Migrant Kids Harder To Find)

If passed, the bill would implement strict protections to ensure the safety of children. These measures include comprehensive background checks on sponsors and all adults in their household using biometric and DNA data, GPS tracking of both the sponsor and child, home inspections prior to placement and unannounced follow-up visits, monthly phone check-ins and the immediate removal of a child from custody if safety concerns are identified or program rules are violated.

The legislation also prohibits individuals with criminal records, gang affiliations, sex offender status or terrorist ties from obtaining custody of alien UCs. It further places strict requirements on sponsors to ensure child safety remains the top priority.

This bill comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lost track of more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children since fiscal year 2019, according to an August 2024 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report. Additionally, nearly 291,000 children did not receive court notices after illegal crossing the Southern border.

The report faulted ICE for not reliably tracking UAC once they left federal custody. During the audit, which examined ICE’s ability to monitor the whereabouts and status of these children after being released or transferred from the DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), auditors found that ICE had transferred more than 448,000 unaccompanied children to HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement between fiscal years 2019 and 2023.

It also revealed that ICE could not determine the whereabouts of all children released by HHS who later failed to show up in immigration court. According to ICE’s own data, over 32,000 UACs “failed to appear” at their scheduled court hearings during that same period.

A House report filed alongside the “Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2024,” cites data from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, estimating that 60% of UACs are seized by cartels and exploited through child pornography and drug trafficking. (RELATED: Fmr Border Chief Says Some ‘Children That Disappeared’ During Biden Era Found At Place Not Fit For Children)

Mace has introduced this bill alongside several other immigration and border security measures. She has also introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which imposes swift penalties for predators in the U.S. illegally, and the Expedited Removal Expansion Act, which grants faster removal authority for illegal immigrants.



Source link

Related Posts

1 of 17