KTRH Local Houston and Texas News

KTRH Local Houston and Texas News

KTRH-AM covering local news from Houston and across Texas.

 

Texas Congressman wants to revive family DNA testing at US-Mexico Border

The crisis of illegal immigrant crossings at the United States-Mexico border keeps worsening as the years progresses. Beyond just the crossings, unaccompanied children being left at the border has become a major issue, with over 81,000 unaccompanied minor encounters just this year.

Texas Congressman Lance Gooden wants to take action against the trafficking of children, introducing a bill called the End Child Trafficking Now Act. The bill would create family DNA testing at the border, if the immigrant cannot provide documentation to prove their relation to a minor.

Breitbart's Bob Price says this idea is a revival of a Donald Trump-era policy that was in place.

"Trump had already started testing migrant children as they came across the border...and Joe Biden eliminated the program," he says. "Make no mistake, this was not a failed program by the Biden Administration...this was an intentional act to undo everything good that Trump had done."

The bill would also include felony punishments for smugglers who 'recycle' children through the system, something that first began appearing in 2019.

"They found there was a mill of smugglers who would come to the border and use the kids to bypass the system. Then once they got in the U.S., they would ship the kid back to Central America, and run them through the grinder again," he says. "They had one child run through the system six or seven times."

The minimum prison sentence for violating that part of the bill would be 10 years.

The name of the bill alone should be enough to get everyone behind it, on both sides of the aisle. But Price says do not underestimate the Democrats abilities to gum up the works, even on simply issues.

"The only way you can be opposed to this bill is if you are in favor of child trafficking...that is the only possible way," he says. "Or, it is pure partisan politics, and you are putting your politics over the safety of children. That is just reprehensible. Any democrat who votes against this...shame on them."

The other Trump-era border policy called Title 42, which gave border patrol agents ability to expel immigrants due to COVID health concerns, was allowed to expire by President Biden.

Since then, the Biden Administration says that illegal crossings have dropped, and tout their app called CBP One, which they claim helps people get through the system quicker. But Price says this was an under the table creation, that is worsening the trafficking situation.

"Out of thin air, they have created a new immigration system, without the input of Congress, and without any money from Congress," he says. "They are allowing tens of thousands of immigrants to now enter through ports of entry through an illegal parole system."

The White House has also made a vain attempt to combat trafficking by authorizing $14 million last year to staff the Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) with 45 employees.

Price adds that the bill will likely pass the House, but then stall out in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Photo: Getty Images North America


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