- 3 months ago
Attorney General Pam Bondi highlights efforts to combat human trafficking in Tampa, Florida.
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00:00Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Greg Kehoe. I'm the U.S. Attorney for the Middle
00:26District of Florida. Thank you for coming. We have a presentation and a press release
00:31for you today and a press conference. And this is dealing with alien smuggling and human
00:38trafficking, something that are priorities for the Department of Justice and for the
00:43Attorney General Pam Bondi. We have an array of U.S. attorneys here that are going to give
00:48you an idea of the cases that are before us. And just briefly, before I bring the Attorney
00:53General up, you know, to my far left is Justin Simmons, U.S. Attorney for the Western District
01:00of Texas. To his right is Mike Drescher, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont. And to his right
01:07is Nick Ganji for the Southern District of Texas. On my far right is Matt Gagliotti, the
01:12Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division. At this point, I'd like
01:16to present to you the Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi.
01:20Thank you. Thank you, U.S. Attorney Kehoe, and thanks for everything that you're doing
01:26and to all our incredible U.S. attorneys around the country. My first day as Attorney General
01:32under President Trump's leadership, we announced that the Department of Justice would pursue
01:36the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations. Thanks to President
01:44Trump, many of these groups, many of these gangs are now classified as foreign terrorist organizations
01:52because they pose an extreme threat to not only our country, but to our world. They traffic
01:58drugs, weapons, and people. Every American community destroyed drives up their profit margins. No longer.
02:10We are investigating and prosecuting their crimes more aggressively than ever. And Joint Task Force
02:17Alpha is the tip of the spear. We have been working on that with Secretary Kristi Noem, Homeland Security.
02:24And I cannot say enough good things about Secretary Noem. I was with her in Louisiana yesterday,
02:29and she is fighting to keep our country safe every single day. Just this week, Joint Task Force
02:38Alpha took four major enforcement actions. Right here in Tampa, we unsealed the indictment,
02:45charging 12 defendants, operating a massive, right here in Tampa, a massive illegal smuggling ring.
02:53The defendants engaged in a conspiracy to bring illegal aliens from Cuba to the U.S. for profit.
03:00They coached their clients, including children who came to airports alone, came to our country alone,
03:09were put on planes for connecting flights, lied to Border Patrol agents due to coaching and law enforcement.
03:17They charged up to $40,000 per victim. They used Zelle to transfer over $7 million over the course of this scheme,
03:31and I believe had profits cash of over $18 million. And it's just not the southern border.
03:40In Vermont, and U.S. Attorney Drescher is here with us, we indicted Norma Lorenzo,
03:46a woman who allegedly worked with Canadian co-conspirators from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador.
03:54Children were transferred to private residences, other airports. And in 2023, according to CBP,
04:04parts of Vermont and New York started seeing unprecedented traffic from illegal aliens.
04:11Law enforcement officers operating in these areas encountered aliens from 97 different countries,
04:19including China, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Yemen.
04:26In the southern district this week of Texas, and Nick Ganges here, we secured the extradition of three men from Guatemala
04:36who have been charged in connection with a mass casualty alien smuggling event.
04:42This tragic event occurred in 2021 in Chiapas, Mexico, a semi-truck containing at least 160 illegal aliens crashed,
04:59resulting in the deaths of more than 50 people. The cost of human smuggling is huge.
05:07So many families are dying. So many people are dying. These smugglers used a variety of vehicles,
05:14including micro buses, tractor trailers, and cattle trucks to smuggle multiple Guatemalan aliens,
05:23including many unaccompanied minors into this country. In the western district of Texas,
05:31where Justin Simmons is our U.S. Attorney. We just this week charged four defendants with their role
05:37in a deplorable scheme, smuggling unaccompanied children into the United States from Mexico. These
05:43monsters behind the operation drugged unaccompanied children coming into our country, giving them THC so
05:54they would be asleep when passing through customs. One of the children was overdosed so badly that the
06:03child had to go to the hospital. Since President Trump took office, Joint Task Force Alpha has charged 56
06:11defendants, including convicting a monster who attempted to bring in Indian nationals into our country
06:19country in sub-zero weather through Canada in the middle of a blizzard. This was a family of four.
06:28This family was eventually found dead in a blizzard with the father holding the three-year-old
06:36little boy wrapped in a blanket with his glove covering his child's face, trying to save his life.
06:45In June, we arrested a Canadian-American citizen in New York for charging $1,000 for every illegal alien
06:52he smuggled over the St. Lawrence River into our country. One of the boats capsized, killing a family,
06:59including two children under the age of three. A few weeks ago, we convicted a coyote in Texas. A coyote,
07:06of course, is someone who transports illegal aliens across state lines for money. In Texas,
07:13we charged him for charging $30,000 for every 10 illegal aliens that he could get to the Rio Grande.
07:22He got an additional $30,000 for every 10 illegal aliens that made it across the Rio Grande alive.
07:30That is why we are now expanding Joint Task Force Alpha. It has five steps. We will now cover,
07:40the task force will now cover our northern border in Canada, of course, and all of our maritime borders.
07:46Our incredible partner again at DHS, Kristi Noem and I are expanding this to include our DEA,
07:55ATF, and FBI agents to this task force to give us even more manpower. We will receive more resources
08:04to prosecute these cases to prosecute these cases and key figures in cartel, human trafficking,
08:10and transnational criminals. We will strengthen our collaboration with foreign law enforcement
08:19throughout this world to protect not only their citizens but ours and return these criminals to
08:27American soil for prosecution. Under President Trump, we have coordinated more closely with our U.S.
08:35Attorney's offices to protect unaccompanied children being smuggled into our country from exploitation.
08:45One of the task force's greatest accomplishments has been demonstrating how dangerous human smuggling
08:52and trafficking are for those being transported. For those who are considering paying to be smuggled into the U.S.,
09:00it is not safe for you or for your families. These coyotes are coordinating with terrorist organizations,
09:09collecting money from them to bring families and unaccompanied children into our country.
09:15These operations are getting people killed. Let me be clear, if you smuggle human beings,
09:21you will be found, you will be prosecuted, and you will be brought to justice. It doesn't matter where
09:28you are, it doesn't matter what our borders are, the limit of where our country ends and another begins,
09:36but it does not limit our law enforcement capabilities to bring you to the United States and prosecute you
09:44and lock you up for as long as we can. Thank you, and God bless you.
09:58Thank you, General Bondry. I'm sure you ladies and gentlemen can see the commitment of the Attorney General
10:02to this endeavor. We just want to take a few minutes or more of your time and give you a little bit more
10:09detailed flavor of the cases that we have before you and the nature and extent of the horrific crimes
10:15that are taking place that General Bondi just outlined. After we finish these very brief comments,
10:22it will be open for questions at that point. Just bear with us and we'll be there very soon. The first case we're
10:28talking about is the case here in Tampa that General Bondi was talking about United States versus Cabrera,
10:35which is a 12 defendants, an international alien smuggling ring, and they also engaged in asylum
10:40fraud. And why did they do it? They did it for money and money alone. As General Bondi just noted,
10:46we have tracked at least $18 million trafficking through their account and laundered through their
10:51accounts to pay their expenses, to pay their co-conspirators. This was a profit-making motive
10:56that went on between 2021 and today, 2025. How did it happen? They used social media. They went on
11:04social media with Cuban individuals to tell them that they could get Cuban individuals and get them
11:13visas based on fraudulent conduct by putting their visas which were based on European citizenship.
11:19They had co-conspirators throughout the world to gather these people up to try to get their money to
11:25participate in this. And I say co-conspirators. There are numerous co-conspirators. There were
11:30thousands of people, aliens listed in their ledgers that they were doing this with. Their ledgers were
11:36sophisticated, as sophisticated as any business that you will come across. Their ledgers had dates of
11:41travel, money owed, airlines used, smuggling routes. How did they do it? They used, they brought these
11:47people through charters and commercial airlines through other countries. They put the fraudulent
11:54documentation together with these individuals. Of course, as General Bondi just noted, at $40,000
11:59apiece. They spent millions of dollars flying these people throughout the country before they came back
12:06into the United States. They would provide them with fraudulent visas based on the fact that they were
12:11saying that they were not in Cuba after 2011, when of course they were. With this fraudulent document,
12:17they coached these people once they came to enter into the United States. How did they coach them? They coached
12:23them to tell, make sure you tell these people that you're a tourist. Make sure you tell them that you're just
12:27here for a visit. And of course, conceal the fact that you had come from Cuba. And then after and when you get into the
12:34United States, lay low for a while. Don't make any noise about things. Why? Because at the appropriate
12:40time, they wanted you to come forward to seek asylum, being a Cuban national. So they would then prepare
12:47the asylum applications, which were likewise fraudulent. So they're preparing fraudulent documents to get
12:54into the country, preparing fraudulent documentation to get asylum. And ladies and gentlemen, this was all
12:59for money. And it was a sophisticated enterprise with multiple shell corporations being used and
13:06transferring money throughout the country. We have we have uncovered at least 27 known bank accounts with these
13:13people to transfer their money between and among each others, pay for expenses and people overseas, and using
13:20money to move in and out of their shell corporations to hide it, which is the substance of the money laundering charge.
13:25Suffice it to say, the bottom line of this is that it was a business, a criminal business that was set up
13:32for one reason and one reason only to make money on the backs of these people and at the expense of the
13:38American people by defrauding them. And in doing so, they passed at least at least 18 million dollars
13:45through their bank accounts. That's a brief overview of the Tampa case. Obviously, it is now open for
13:52review because it's no longer sealed. And I will want to, if I can, I want to turn this over to
14:01my friend from the Southern District of Texas, Nick Ganji, who will give you an idea of the case
14:05that he is going to present from his district. Nick.
14:11Madam Attorney General, good afternoon. My name is Nicholas Ganji, the United States Attorney for the
14:16Southern District of Texas. The American people have been told time and time again that insisting
14:22upon a secure border and an orderly immigration process somehow lacks compassion. But what the
14:29disastrous record of the last four years has shown is that an open border is anything but compassionate.
14:36And perhaps the most pernicious and cruel outgrowth of our once open border is the rise of the cartel
14:43backed human smuggling industry. And make no mistake, it is indeed an industry. Human beings are treated
14:49like commodities stacked like cordwood in dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions. All it takes is
14:56one faulty air conditioner or one wrong turn of the steering wheel to turn a smuggling run into a mass
15:03casualty event. The sad example of this is the 2021 smuggling crash in Chiapas, Mexico, where a tractor
15:11trailer carrying 160 people overturned, costing the lives of 50, including children and injuring more
15:19than 100 others. The Southern District of Texas, along with Joint Task Force Alpha, has worked tirelessly
15:27to bring justice to those responsible for this great tragedy. Last year, a grand jury in the Southern
15:33District of Texas indicted six Guatemalan nationals for conspiring to smuggle these victims into the United
15:40States. And on December 9th of last year, the third anniversary of the crash, Guatemalan authorities
15:47arrested the four remaining conspirators who are residing overseas. I'm pleased to announce today that
15:54three of these alleged conspirators have just been extradited to the United States and are making their
15:58initial appearance today in Laredo, Texas, with a fourth defendant on the way. I am grateful to our
16:05Guatemalan partners for their assistance in delivering these defendants to us so that these accused smugglers
16:11can learn a little bit about what Texas justice looks like. But the Southern District of Texas work
16:18with Joint Task Force Alpha has yielded other successes as well. A few notable examples, we indicted and
16:24convicted 14 defendants who conspired to smuggle hundreds of illegal aliens via dangerous methods, including
16:30packing them in suitcases, repurposed water tankers and wooden crates with little ventilation or room to
16:37move. We recently obtained police from six smuggling defendants who, among other things, left a man to die
16:43of heat exhaustion in the Texas brush. We indicted and convicted a human smuggler that had transported
16:49dozens of illegal aliens, including minors, and then led police on a high-speed chase the streets of Laredo.
16:56And we obtained a 103-month sentence against a former CBP officer who betrayed his oath and took
17:03bribes to allow illegal aliens and cocaine to pass through his lane at a port of entry.
17:10Smuggling is a wicked and remorseless business, and it has no place in any civilized society,
17:16let alone the United States. And the Southern District of Texas will do whatever it takes
17:21to eradicate this industry once and for all and to put those responsible in prison for as long as the
17:26law allows. So for those considering coming to this country illegally, our message is clear.
17:33Don't do it. Don't put your life or safety or those of your loved ones into the hands of the cartel.
17:39They do not care if you or your children have access to food, water, or even air to breathe.
17:46They do not care if you live or die. And our message to these smugglers is equally clear.
17:54You can run, but you can't hide. If you're not already in cuffs, you will be in cuffs soon,
18:00because the United States does not forget. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to
18:05United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin Simmons.
18:08Thank you all for being here today. My name is Justin Simmons. I'm the U.S. Attorney for the
18:17Western District of Texas. Thank you, General Bondi, for organizing this today. I also want
18:23to thank President Trump for the encouragement and the motivation he's given all of us to take down
18:28these alien smuggling organizations and the cartels that they work with.
18:31You know, Juarez, Mexico is right across the border from El Paso, Texas. And for years,
18:39Juarez has been plagued by violence, kidnapping and murder.
18:45Cartels have been worrying over that area for decades because it's a key route for trafficking
18:52drugs and smuggling humans into the United States. These cartels have no bottom.
18:58There is no limiting principle on how low they will go to enrich themselves.
19:05We saw an example of this recently
19:08in a case where a woman named Susanna Guadian ran an alien smuggling organization out of Juarez.
19:16She worked with her husband, Daniel, her daughter, Diane, and Diane's husband,
19:21Manuel Valenzuela, to smuggle children from Mexico into the United States.
19:27Basically, what she would do was contact U.S. drivers who would come across and pick up these
19:32children and then take them back across the border. Prior to being picked up, Susanna would prep these
19:37children by sometimes telling them what to say when they got to the POE, the port of entry,
19:42or a checkpoint. Other times, she would give them THC gummies, as General Bondi said,
19:48to calm them and keep them compliant throughout the process.
19:51In this particular case, the children that were given the THC gummies were 12, 9, 3, and 2.
19:59When CBP recognized when they were trying to cross with this group of children that something wasn't
20:03right, they saw it, they realized those children needed some kind of medical treatment, they got
20:11a couple of them to the hospital to receive that treatment. They were later diagnosed with THC
20:15poisoning. As U.S. Attorney Gandhi said, as General Bondi said, these cartels, these organizations do
20:24not care about you or your children when moving them across the border.
20:28So we're really happy that we were able to get arrest warrants this weekend and get at least two of
20:36these individuals, Diane and Manuel Valenzuela, off the street. The two other individuals, Susanna and
20:41Daniel Guadian, are still at large, but we will do everything we can to bring them to justice as well.
20:47You know, nothing crosses the border without the cartel's permission, and nothing crosses without
20:53payment to the cartels. These cartels see children just like they see a kilo of coke, dollar signs.
21:00That's all they see. They care nothing about their well-being. Additionally, these organizations
21:07often use stash houses in American neighborhoods where they will put these aliens that they're
21:12smuggling across for days, weeks at a time. This endangers those neighborhoods, endangers those
21:19people who live in those areas, and it brings organized crime to Main Street, USA. We will not
21:24have it. We will do everything we can to shut down these organizations because it hits the cartels
21:30where it counts, in their pocketbooks. That is all they care about, how much money they can make.
21:36And it makes America safer for Americans. It makes this place, this country, a place where you as an
21:42American can not just survive, but thrive. So that's what we're committed to. I want to thank
21:48our partners with Border Patrol Customs and Border Protection and HSI for their work on this case.
21:53I also want to thank Joint Task Force Alpha and their help putting this case and many other cases
21:58together. You know, in San Antonio earlier this year, we got life sentences on folks who had smuggled
22:04individuals in a tractor trailer into the United States. 54 individuals, 53 plus one unborn child
22:11died in the back of that tractor trailer. So I'm really helpful for, really thankful for Joint Task
22:17Force Alpha and the work they've been doing with us as well. We are on a mission to shut down
22:21these organizations and the cartels more broadly. In the Western District of Texas,
22:26this is what we do. Thank you very much.
22:29So lest you think this problem is just on the south border in Texas and Florida,
22:33I'd like to bring up U.S. Attorney Mike Drescher from the District of Vermont. Mike?
22:38Thank you. I want to thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for your remarks. And I want to thank you,
22:45U.S. Attorney Kehoe, for your hospitality hosting this event. I especially want to thank you,
22:50Attorney General Bondi, for bringing attention to the extraordinary work that the men and women of
22:57the United States Border Patrol and Homeland Security investigations are doing in Swanton sector,
23:04the portion of the U.S.-Canada border that includes Vermont, Northern New York, and New Hampshire.
23:12Thanks to their work and the work of Joint Task Force Alpha, the United States Attorney's Office
23:18for the District of Vermont has obtained a seven-count indictment charging Norma Linda Lozano,
23:25who's 53 years old, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, with one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and six
23:33counts of bringing aliens to the United States who lacked permission to enter or to remain in this
23:38country. As alleged in court filings, through much of 2024, Lozano repeatedly smuggled and attempted to
23:49smuggle illegal aliens into the United States from Canada. She did this for profit, negotiating payment
23:58with her Canadian co-conspirators and coordinating with them the locations where she would pick up
24:04her loads of non-citizens aliens entering the country. As alleged, Lozano's methods included, echoing some
24:14of the comments we've already heard today, hiding a child alongside luggage in the far recesses of the
24:20vehicle that she was traveling in, disregarding the child's safety and welfare. These offenses are serious
24:29for several reasons. First, they aid and abet those who are seeking to enter the country illegally.
24:36Second, they exploit those people who are desperate and misguided enough to try to enter the country
24:44illegally. On the northern border, such illegal crossings frequently involve trekking through forests and
24:50swamps in inhospitable and dangerous circumstances. And third, they facilitate the unvetted aliens
24:59entering the United States for unknown and possibly nefarious purposes. In short, offenses such as those
25:07charged pose a risk to the nation's security. And the United States Attorney's Office for the District of
25:13Vermont is proud to work with the United States Border Patrol, Homeland Security, and Joint Task Force
25:20Alpha to help secure the northern border. Ms. Lozano was arrested Tuesday of this week in the Middle
25:27District of Georgia, where today she had her initial appearance in Albany, Georgia. She's been transferred
25:33to have subsequent appearances in the District of Vermont. Last, I want to recognize the hard work of
25:41Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Lasher and Michelle Ara, who, under the leadership of Jonathan
25:48Opart, the Chief of the Criminal Division for the District of Vermont, have teamed up with Task Force
25:55Alpha trial attorney Jenna Reed to seek to hold Lozano and others engaged in similar conduct responsible
26:03for these offenses. Thank you. We're ready to take questions. If you want to direct them to any of the
26:10states, just let us know. Questions? We'll have it if we start on this side of the room and go over. Any questions?
26:17Are you seeing any connections between the cartels operating on the southern border that have been
26:23designated as training national criminal organizations and the criminal organizations in New York and Vermont?
26:31And then second question for you, Attorney General, a judge will be receiving the appointment of the National
26:36Guard in LA. Excuse me. Does that ruling affect your plan to send this to Chicago land?
26:43First, to the National Guard. We will be following the law. We are appealing that ruling and we plan on
26:48being successful in court. We anticipate very much being successful. Back to this. Yes, these
26:54these transnational criminal organizations, since we have secured completely our southern border,
27:00are finding various ways to come into our country. And as our U.S. Attorney in Vermont knows,
27:07the northern border, it always has been, but it's gotten much worse, much more prevalent because they
27:12are, it's such a, it's a multi-billion dollar business, the smuggling of drugs, guns, and humans. And so
27:20they're not going to quit once we secured our southern border. But yes, we're stopping them
27:25at our northern border. And that's why we're also increasing Joint Task Force Alpha to include our
27:31maritime ports as well. Any other questions? First for you, or I'm not sure you're going to do the
27:39Tampa part of it first, but when it comes to Tampa, do you have any idea as to why they set up shop here in
27:45Tampa? And then the other question about Tampa would just be, how much of this is going on right now?
27:50This seems like a pretty deep thing that was happening here. Can you just start throwing darts
27:55in a map and find these kinds of groups? Can I start in on that first? Because I know you're a Tampa
28:01reporter, and that's why I think it was so important to have it here, because people are expecting this in
28:06Texas and big cities, and Tampa is a big city, but it is everywhere. It touches, I think, every city in our
28:13country. And traveling around this country, it's everywhere. It's everywhere you go, because our
28:20borders were wide open and guns, drugs, gangs were coming in terrorist organizations into every city
28:29in our country. We arrested very recently, 20 minutes outside of our nation's capital, one of the top
28:36MS-13 members in the entire country. One of them was arrested also in Portland, Oregon. So it's very
28:43organized. They are spread throughout this country. And U.S. Attorney Kehoe, I'll let you take it from
28:48Tampa.
28:49With regard to Tampa, this has been going on for a significant period of time. Our investigation
28:54takes us back to at least 2021. And these people aren't some individuals from far off areas. They're
29:01from neighborhoods right here in Tampa, from addresses that you know that you could pass in public or walk
29:07on the street. Why did they set up here? Because they started up in 2021, operated undetected. And let's
29:14be very perfectly honest, as General Bondi said, $18 million in an entity that was moving in a
29:22tremendous speed, but in a relatively short period of time. $7 million going through Zelle alone. So why
29:29did they come here? Because they lived here, they were here, they set up and did business here, and it was
29:33profitable. Were they availing themselves of different services, schools, and parks? I mean,
29:38were they living otherwise ordinary lives?
29:40From all intents and purposes, I can't answer that question factually, and I don't want to
29:44mislead you, but I don't have any information to say that they weren't. I can't say that they
29:50were sending their children to local schools, but they were certainly living here and doing business here.
29:55Attorney General, now that you're seeing this from the inside, you obviously spent time in state
30:04government, doing law enforcement. Now that you're seeing it from the federal level, how would you
30:10characterize what you've become aware of in terms of how much this is going on around the country? It
30:18seems like these cases are just a few of what you could highlight.
30:22And these were not coordinated arrests or extraditions. These are four that all happened
30:28in a week. And because the majority involved unaccompanied children and human smuggling,
30:34we wanted to highlight those and why we're expanding our task force. It's shocking, being in the state
30:40of Florida, being a state prosecutor, but now on a national level and an international level,
30:45seeing the amount of human smuggling that goes on in child exploitation and the amount of
30:51drugs that freely flowed into our country for four years has truly been horrific. And we are doing
30:57everything in our power to stop it. And we're also meeting with our partners around the world
31:03to work hand in hand with them as well.
31:06Can you characterize how many more cases are happening in Tampa, Oldboro County, Florida?
31:12So just since January 20th, we have charged in Tampa, you're specifically Tampa, but Joint Task Force
31:17Alpha has charged 55 defendants just since, just recently, just since January, 55 have been charged.
31:27And these are all, no, no, no, from, from all over the country, major, major cases,
31:32but I'll, I'll let U.S. Attorney Kehoe answer, answer Tampa. It's everywhere.
31:37Yes. I mean, to take what the general says, this is, this is everywhere. This is just not a part-time
31:42thing. Why? Because it's a profitable thing. You know, other cases under, under investigation
31:46here in Tampa? I, yes. Uh, numerous cases? Yes. I can't get into the details of those, but this is not
31:53the last case of this fashion that we're going to do. Border Patrol and HSI are out there day after day,
31:59week after week, conducting investigations. So will be, will there be more such cases
32:04being indicted along the way? Their answer is yes. I don't want to speak for my colleagues,
32:08but I, I sure, uh, I, I, I assume that they would echo my response in that regard.
32:15Take one more. Go ahead.
32:16Good afternoon to you all. So for the cartels that are successful in smuggling children,
32:22what are they doing with them once they're successful in that?
32:26The car, the children, they're, they're either being trafficked. We've seen multiple, multiple
32:32cases of children being trafficked who have come across our borders, come into our country,
32:37and they're being, they're, they're being put on planes by themselves. When I was at the border
32:45in September, I went to the border in September in Yuma, Arizona, and they had a term and it was called
32:52a recycled child. And these Border Patrol agents were seeing a little boy coming across our border
33:01multiple times. They saw him coming in as part of a family unit, which is often how they use children
33:08to get horrible criminals into our country, posing as a family unit. But these kids are coming from
33:15all over the place and we don't know many of them where their parents were. That's why we're,
33:20we're struggling to find that out, to prosecute all of them. But it was a recycled child. And these
33:26very vigilant Border Patrol agents recognized a little boy coming across, coming across. This was
33:33last September. And they, they couldn't figure out how he was going back and forth so easily. Well,
33:39our borders were wide open. And if you dropped your IDs, I saw IDs that were just piled up from
33:46every country you can imagine. If you dropped your passport, if you dropped your ID, one, they had
33:51a military member from China dropped his ID. You could walk right into this country and say you were
33:57from anywhere you wanted to. And that's what we have stopped. And that's what we're going to prosecute.
34:03So they're using these children, many of them to exploit them to help other gangs, cartels throughout
34:10this country. Some of these cases, when we're arresting these cartel members, they have children
34:14with them who are not related to them in their homes. Thank you. Thank you all for being here. And
34:21thank you for taking such close attention and realization to what's happening throughout
34:29our country affecting children. Have a great day.
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