Cornyn Blasts Biden Admin for Child Labor Trafficking Cover-up

On the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) slammed the Biden administration for failing to ensure the safety of unaccompanied migrant children placed with sponsors and for covering up credible reports of migrant child labor trafficking and abuse. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Of the more than 300,000 migrant children who arrived in the United States on President Biden's watch, roughly 85,000 could not be accounted for 30 days after they were placed with a sponsor.”

“Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra knew about credible reports of trafficking and abuse but continued to push for speedy placement of migrants with sponsors with little regard for the dangers that that created.”

“Then-Labor Secretary Marty Walsh was well aware of this.”

“Until recently, Susan Rice served as the Director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, where her job required her to oversee virtually every aspect of domestic policy matters, including the placement of migrant children.”

“Both Health and Human Services and the Labor Department shared concerns about labor trafficking and child labor violations, but those reports were either ignored by the White House or intentionally swept under the rug.”

“The administration didn't just turn a blind eye, it intentionally tried to cover up the widespread exploitation of migrant children.”

“I look forward to the opportunity to ask those officials charged with the care and custody of these vulnerable children why they shirked their responsibilities.”

“The Biden administration may be fine with abandoning migrant children in order to avoid a bad news cycle, but I am not.”

“If you were an American citizen and you treated that American citizen child like the Biden administration has treated these migrant children from other countries, you would be charged and convicted of reckless endangerment of a child or human trafficking.”

“We need answers. We need accountability. We need policy changes to ensure that these practices come to an end.”