House Republicans are demanding answers from the Biden administration as the rate of illegal border crossings continues to swell — raising concern about the record numbers of minors showing up at the crossing and government action to protect them from exploitation.
In a letter to the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Homeland Security departments, five GOP lawmakers on the House Committee on Education and Labor accused the administration of “fueling a child safety crisis.”
“As migrants see more opportunities to enter the country, we are concerned about the harm that may befall the children and resurgence of child trafficking,” the group, led by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), wrote.
“With record numbers of children crossing the border, we believe it is imperative to understand what the federal government is doing to protect children crossing the border,” they continued.
“The administration must treat this crisis as the emergency that it is and actively prevent predators from exploiting weaknesses in the enforcement of our laws.”
The letter, dated Thursday, came as a top Border Patrol official revealed a major apprehension and arrest inside the US.
“The Douglas Station’s #Horse Patrol Unit arrested a group of 32 migrants after illegally crossing the border,” John Modlin, interim chief patrol agent for the Tucson Sector, tweeted Thursday.
“The 32 Mexican Nationals utilized camouflage clothing to blend into the surrounding vegetation.”
Modlin also shared an image revealing the group in their outfits, with officers surrounding them and a helicopter hovering overhead.
Reps for DHS and HHS did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The Biden administration’s undoing of former President Donald Trump’s border policies has prompted a flood of Central American and Mexican illegal migrants at the US border, including thousands of unescorted children.
Central Americans looking for refuge from the Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras — have taken these policy moves, as well as the overwhelmingly more welcoming tone from Democrats, as a sign that Biden is inviting them to cross the border.
Insisting that the border was not facing a crisis, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in early March that the problems the agency faced should be blamed on the previous administration.
The data, however, overwhelmingly shows that migrants were flooding the border because they believed Biden would welcome them with open arms.
As Mayorkas denied the existence of a crisis, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the new president for the crisis, arguing that the “expectations” he set left migrants with the perception that they would be let into the US.
