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Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, the Biden administration has spent the better part of 3 years claiming that its border policies are humane and just. We know this isn't the case. Under Joe Biden, the Mexican cartels are acting with impunity because the President would rather cave to the desires of the far left than admit that a country with open borders has no borders at all. Because of this open border policy and the fact that they are not recognizing the southern border as a border, they have turned every town into a border town, every State into a border State, and this has made us vulnerable to drug smugglers, human traffickers, and violent criminals looking for their next victim.

In April, the Border Patrol reported more than 182,000 encounters with migrants trying to cross the southern border--182,000. When you combine that with the numbers from the first quarter of this year, you come up with more than 602,000 encounters. That doesn't include the tens of thousands of got-aways who disappeared into the country before they could be apprehended. When you add that to the 22,000 pounds of drugs that have been seized, almost 40,000 criminals that have been caught, and 49 suspected terrorists apprehended, you must conclude that the Biden administration hasn't just lost control of the border; they have relinquished it.

As I said, the border policy is to have no policy, to have an open border--interesting--and it is something that my colleagues across the aisle refuse to admit is taking place.

Our southern border is wide open. The people benefiting are the cartels that are in control of the border on the Mexico side: 49 suspected terrorists, 22,000 pounds of drugs, 40,000 criminal illegal aliens apprehended. As I said, that is just in the 602,000 who have been apprehended so far this year. That is right, so far this year.

And in the got-aways--the tens of thousands of got-aways--how many more pounds of drugs, how many more criminals, how many more terrorists have come into this country?

While our border is open, the cartels are monetizing Joe Biden's refusal to secure the country. They have turned human trafficking into a $13 billion-a-year business. It is amazing--$13 billion on human trafficking alone.

For years, illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the fact that if they cross the border with a minor, they will more likely than not be released into the United States while their immigration cases are processed. But under Joe Biden, human traffickers have made this complacency a part of their expected business model.

They are now engaging in a practice that is horrendous. It is called child recycling. It is a disgusting process. In this child recycling process, the same child is exploited repeatedly by illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States. Once one criminal escapes into the country, they ship the child back across the border and into the hands of another abuser.

The Trump administration fought back against this practice and mandated that asylum seekers with accompanying minors take DNA tests to prove that they were indeed a family unit. And like many of the Trump- era border policies, this worked. We have the data to prove it. Just ask the Border Patrol.

In one pilot program, 30 percent of those rapid DNA tests showed that the adult trying to enter the country bore no relation to the child they brought with them--30 percent. The DNA testing program saved a lot of lives.

So I would ask my colleagues this question: Is it fair--is it fair-- to ask the Biden administration, is it worth saving the lives of these children?

This Biden administration ended DNA testing of illegal immigrants last month, 2 weeks after title 42 ended. So is it fair to ask why they will not implement DNA testing? Why will they not agree to save the lives of as many as 30 percent of the children who are being presented at the southern border?

See, it wasn't a policy decision. You have just got to believe that. It had to be a political decision, and we just cannot allow this to stand.

Earlier this year, I introduced the End Child Trafficking Now Act. That would criminalize child recycling. It would reinstate the DNA testing program and create harsh penalties for migrants who try to skirt the law. This legislation would require adult migrants trying to enter the country with a minor to prove that they are indeed the child's relative or guardian. They will be able to do that by providing paperwork and sworn witness testimony or by taking the DNA test.

If their paperwork doesn't check out--and we know the cartels have started to forge documents into fraudulent paperwork. We are aware of that. That is why, if their paperwork doesn't pan out, the DNA test is mandatory. If the DNA test proves that migrant is lying, HHS would step in and process the child as an unaccompanied minor, and the trafficker would face a maximum 10-year prison sentence for falsely posing as a family. This legislation would also require DHS to deport illegal aliens who refuse to take the DNA test. This is a commonsense bill that every Senator in this Chamber should get behind.

I call on my Democratic colleagues to either join me in moving this important legislation forward or explain to the American people why they would stonewall a program, a test--and it only takes 45 minutes. Why would they stonewall this when it would keep children out of these human trafficking rings?

This horrific practice will not stop unless we stop it. And if we don't catch it at the border, we need to catch it as these criminals move across the country.

Child recycling is a problem, but I think we all know that not every child forced across our border is sent back home. Labor and sex trafficking within the United States is real, and it is happening in our communities.

This horrible reality particularly affects girls and young women, which is why I introduced the SAVE Girls Act. This bipartisan legislation, which I introduced with Senator Klobuchar, creates a $50 million grant program to provide States, localities, and nongovernment organizations, our nonprofits, with the resources they need to catch traffickers and to support the children and the women who survive this horrific practice.

This is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a human rights issue. And I am so grateful to my colleagues for working with me to put the safety of these women and girls first.

I hope the rest of the Members of this Chamber will follow the lead and help us pass the SAVE Girls Act and the End Child Trafficking Now Act because, if we don't, things will get much, much worse for these children and these women who are being trafficked.
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