A moment ago you were crowing about the Fact that you treated children so well And yet we find tens of thousands of Children who are forced to work as Slaves because of your policies and you Turn around and blame a prior Administration Mr secretary this is par For the course for you thank you very Much Mr chairman Mr secretary thanks for Being here let's uh let's talk about the Surge in child smuggling and child Exploitation that is happening on your Watch do you know the number of Unaccompanied children who have come Across the border on your watch A senator I don't have Um that number of my disposal but I can Assure you that we are incredibly Dedicated to the Safety and Security of Those children well it doesn't appear So Based on what we're reading today in the New York Times where we're reading and Seeing from numbers from your own office The answer to my question by the way is 345 807 that's the number of Unaccompanied children children who have Come across the border on your watch Do you know what's happening to these Children have you seen this report from The New York Times alone an exploited Migrant children work brutal jobs across The United States have you seen this Senator I have and let me share with you What we are doing have you seen these
Numbers these are reports of trafficking And abuse of Migrant children you can See a massive surge that begins to Happen when oh when you come to office In 2021 huge surge reports of Trafficking reports of neglect and abuse Let's just look at a few of the details This is absolutely unbelievable I can't Believe this happens in the United States of America in this day and age This is from The New York Times Thousands of children Had ended up in punishing jobs across The country working overnight in Slaughterhouses replacing roofs Operating Machinery in factories all in Violation of child labor laws for Example there's a young girl named Carolina from Guatemala she is 15 years Old what does she do she packages Cheerios overnight at a factory she says Sometimes I get tired and I feel sick The times goes on her stomach often hurt She wasn't sure if that was because of a Lack of sleep or the stress of the Incessant roar or the machines or her Own worry the times goes on Far From Home many of these children are under Intense pressure to earn money they have To send cash back home to their families While often being in debt to their Sponsors quote unquote for what for Smuggling fees rent and living expenses One individual interview by the time
Said this I'm still quoting it's the new Child labor You're taking children from another Country and putting them into indentured Servitude I could go on and on the times Details over a multi-month investigation Kid after kid child after child one one 13 year old forced to wash Hotel sheets In Virginia kids running milkshake Machine milking machines rather in Vermont delivering meals in New York City scrubbing dishes late at night all In violation of our country's laws All facilitated by your policies Are you proud of this record Senator the horrific exploitation of Children is something that we do not Condone you are incorrectly attributing It uh to our policies let me share with You wait a minute wait a minute again Look at look at the numbers look at the Numbers it began this massive surge Began when you came to office in your First year in office first year there Was a 342 percent surge of unaccompanied Children across the border you know CBS Reported that Mr I'm going to quote them Now Mr Biden's election as well as Policy changes announced by his Administration those would be your Changes lead Smugglers to tell migrant Youth they had a better chance of being Allowed to stay in the United States
Than they had under Trump Meanwhile you've lost track of tens of Thousands of them the times also Reviewed data that showed government Couldn't reach more than 85 000 of these Children who they just turned over into The hands of of Smugglers of modern These are modern days slave Traders and You're just giving these children to Them what is going on why are you doing This Uh Senator so um of course there are a Number of factual inaccuracies uh in Your question but let me let me address Uh two lines of effort that we have uh To combat the scourge of exploitation Why don't we just start with why you Enabled it can we just start with that Why is it that you have enabled 345 000 children to be smuggled across this Border and then sent into the hands of Modern day slave traders in 2021 you Made the decision to change title 42 to Allow unaccompanied children to come Into the United States and then to be Sent into the interior of the country Under the last Administration children Were reunited with their families in Their home country you changed that and As soon as you changed it the numbers Exploded that is your responsibility Quite a number of false statements uh Senator what is false about that Statement so if I can
Um uh State what I've been trying to State one of the significant policy Decisions that we have made Is to focus our work site enforcement Investigative efforts our criminal Investigative efforts on unscrupulous Employers that exploit individuals Because of their vulnerabilities and That includes that includes underage Workers that is not what the New York Times investigation found I was Mr Chairman I just ask at this point I'd Like to enter into the record the New York Times article is migrant children Were put to work U.S ignored warnings This is from April 17 2023. this morning And I'd also like to enter into the Record the New York Times article alone And exploited migrant children work Brutal jobs across the U.S this is from February 25th thank you Mr chairman what These articles show Mr secretary is that The Administration has done nothing but Facilitate This crisis you change title 42 you Allowed hundreds of thousands of Migrant Children to come across the border and Then you made it worse when they became A political crisis for you when that Huge surge of kids across the border Because you changed title 42 when it Became an Optics crisis what did you do You began pressuring Officials and agencies to skip the
Vetting process and get these kids out As soon as possible to sponsors who Weren't vetted here's the times again as Shelters filled with children The administration began loosening Vetting restrictions and urging case Managers to speed the process along you Have at every stage facilitated this Modern day indentured servitude of minor Children Why should you not be impeached for this Senator I look forward to discussing This issue further because you are Um Misstating the facts uh so uh terribly I Am reading you the facts from articles In the news and your usual modus Operandi is what you're doing again Today was just to deny deny deny Why have you permitted 345 000 children to come into this country Unaccompanied why have you permitted Thousands of them to be abused and Exploited Senator what we do is we Enforce the law but let me just say this But you're not Stunning to me stunning to hear you say That the prior Administration reunited Children with their parents so this is Their fault you're not going to take any Responsibility for the indentured Servitude and exploitation of children That is happening on your watch a moment Ago you were crowing about the fact that
You treated children so well and yet we Find tens of thousands of children who Are forced to work as slaves because of Your policies and you turn around and Blame a prior Administration Mr Secretary this is par for the course for You you do it every time you appear Before this committee you do it every Time you appear before Congress I for One am sick and tired of it and Thousands of children are in physical Danger Danger because of what you were doing You should have resigned long ago and if You cannot change course you should be Removed from office thank you Mr Chairman
