Founder of GUARD Against Trafficking Decries Exploitation Of Immigrant Children At Southern Border

4 months ago

During a rally and prayer vigil for Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Monday, his lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg answered a question about the Trump administration's proposal of a plea deal for Abrego Garcia.

Transcript

00:00At this time, I'd like to recognize Ms. Hopper for her five minutes to summarize her opening statement.

00:09Chairman Guest, Ranking Member Thompson, and distinguished committee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify.

00:17My name is Allie Hopper, president and co-founder of Guard Against Trafficking, a nonprofit dedicated to combating human trafficking.

00:24As a Hispanic mother, I have held a six-year-old Colombian child in my arms, cold, dirty, and shaking, left to die at the border by the cartel.

00:37I have seen children that have crossed the border alone, holding scraps of paper with sponsor information given to them by the cartels.

00:46When I testified in November, we discussed the exploitation of children at our border.

00:51Today, countless children continue to be neglected, abused, or trafficked by a system meant to protect them.

01:01We must ask, how was this allowed to happen, and what role did NGOs play?

01:07My research partner, Dr. Jared Sadalski, and I have conducted extensive field work,

01:12including interviewing incarcerated traffickers, cartel members, whistleblowers, and unaccompanied alien children themselves.

01:21An ORR field specialist had visited a home to place a 17-year-old and reported serious concerns,

01:29most notably that the adult claiming to be the child's mother was adorned in MS-13 tattoos.

01:36Despite these concerns, ORR leadership overruled that specialist.

01:41Tragically, three months later, that child was found dead, his pants around his ankles,

01:49with an older man passed out next to him.

01:52This heartbreaking case is not isolated.

01:55It highlights a system overwhelmed by both scale and mismanagement.

02:00Since 2008, over $20 billion has been dispersed under the UAC program,

02:07almost $14 billion of that in the last six years alone,

02:11meaning over two-thirds of funding was spent in just one-third of the program's lifespan.

02:18Yet despite this massive investment, hundreds of thousands of children remain unaccounted for

02:23as the U.S. taxpayer dollars fueled a system hijacked by criminal networks.

02:30No-bid, billion-dollar contracts were awarded with little oversight,

02:34while influx facilities became transportation hubs.

02:38A striking example is Endeavors.

02:41Their IRS filings show revenue soaring from $65 million in 2019

02:45to $1.18 billion in 2022,

02:50driven almost entirely by federal contracts.

02:52During this time, CEO John Allman's salary rose from $292,000 to $730,000,

03:00with six-figure executive surge bonuses added.

03:05Endeavors ended 2022 with a $112 million surplus.

03:12Andrew Lorenzen-Straight, a former Biden transition official and ICE advisor,

03:16helped secure no-bid federal contracts for Endeavors

03:19and was caught on camera calling the border crisis a boom for business.

03:26Inside Endeavors, leadership blocked critical safety protocols,

03:30resisted oversight, and silenced internal dissent.

03:34Our interviews with contracted auditors at Endeavors' Pico, Texas facility

03:37revealed disturbing findings.

03:41Male staff had been found inside female dorm rooms.

03:44An employee had led 150 teenage girls in sexually explicit routines,

03:51dance routines, teaching them how to twerk on multiple occasions.

03:56A female over 18 had been shielded from ICE.

03:59Others nearing 18 were released early to avoid transfer to ICE.

04:04And auditors were blocked from reviewing child sponsor placements.

04:08These abuses are not unique to Endeavors.

04:12Similar patterns existed across multiple NGOs.

04:16Federal contracts had prioritized speed over safety

04:20and rewarded output over outcomes.

04:24Conditions which cartels exploited.

04:28A cartel operative in Tecate, Mexico,

04:30explained to us how children were routinely kidnapped

04:34and funneled into the U.S. for-profit.

04:38Cartels infiltrated NGOs along those smuggling routes,

04:43turning humanitarian pathways into trafficking pipelines.

04:48Weak sponsor vetting worsened this problem.

04:51An HHS audit later found that 70% of sponsor applications

04:55were fraudulent,

04:58making proper post-placement welfare checks nearly impossible.

05:02Recently, we discovered about 117 unaccompanied children

05:07believed to be trafficked on a farm in the Midwest,

05:10where our intervention sparked a current investigation.

05:14These cases are emerging nationwide.

05:17Last week, ICE and CBP arrested about 361 illegal aliens

05:21at two cannabis farms in California,

05:24finding 10 unaccompanied children.

05:26So where do we go from here?

05:28This is not about politics.

05:29It's about protecting children

05:30and confronting modern-day slavery.

05:33Good intentions and humanitarian missions

05:35must never excuse harm

05:37when policies enable exploitation,

05:39accountability, and decisive action

05:41must ensure it never happens again.

Founder of GUARD Against Trafficking Decries Exploitation Of Immigrant Children At Southern Border

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended