HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) — On Tuesday Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking the administration for answers regarding the recent influx of unaccompanied minors and migrants at the southern border.
In the letter, Abbott starts by requesting the president to require his administration to interview every unaccompanied minor that crosses the border to learn if they have been “armed, groomed, or victimized by human traffickers in any way.”
“In many cases, these criminals entice unaccompanied minors into inhumane conditions and expose them to abuse and terror,” said Abbott in a press release. “We have a duty to investigate these border crossings so we can protect the victims of human trafficking that have already crossed our borders, crack down on the perpetrators of this heinous crime.”
Abbott added that the recent decisions made by the Biden administration are “emboldening dangerous cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers to ramp up their criminal
operations.”
The governor included the following questions:
- How are these children coming across the border and who is helping them get here?
- Were these children abused or harmed in any way on their journeys?
- Were these children forced to carry contraband into the United States?
- Were these children or their families assisted, coerced, and threatened by cartel members
or human traffickers? - Are these children being effectively screened by appropriately trained personnel to identify potential victims of abuse, assault, and trafficking? What is the screening tool being used? When is that screening taking place and by whom? Are these children being provided a thorough medical screening that may separately identify abuse and assault?
- How many victims of physical abuse, sexual assault, or trafficking has your administration identified?
- Are you using effective DNA tests to confirm familial relations? How else are you ensuring that these children are being released to safe, trustworthy adults?
- What specific measures can you point to that confirm that these children are not released to human traffickers in the United States?
- What action is your administration taking to prosecute those who traffic unaccompanied minors?
At the end of the letter, Abbott acknowledged it is the federal government’s responsibility, but due to the “absence of federal action,” the state launched Operation Lone Star.
Click here to read the full letter.
