During a recent trip to the southwest border, I heard a deeply disturbing story at a shelter about a robbery and the kidnapping of two migrant children and the attempted kidnapping of another during their trip. The mother of all three children was so traumatized that she refused to let go of her remaining child.

Migrant Children Trafficking through the Unaccompanied Children Program

Hearing this story made me why the cartels would target young children. I later discovered that the cartels exploit the Unaccompanied Children Program, managed by the U.S. government. These kids are used for forced child labor within the United States.

The cartels provide migrant children with the name and phone number of who they should request as their sponsor after those children cross into the U.S. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for finding sponsors for these unaccompanied migrant children.

Shockingly, I found that many migrant children are exploited through labor trafficking by Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in the United States. TCOs and unvetted sponsors place these migrant children into forced labor once they receive them from the ORR.

Migrant Child Exploitation Occurs Due to Vetting Problems, Despite the Actions of Whistleblowers

This exploitation occurs due to a lack of proper vetting of sponsors. During my research, I spoke to whistleblowers who worked directly with ORR and reviewed documented cases of migrant children being trafficked by TCOs.

Today, migrant children are sold for sex and forced to work in agriculture, poultry factories, and other manufacturing facilities without adequate pay. These children cannot leave because they must repay the debt for their transportation to the U.S.

According to the New York Times, children as young as 13 must pay back five-figure amounts to the traffickers. This high level of debt is extremely difficult for children to repay.

The traffickers are also utterly indifferent about protecting the children under their supervision. The New York Times noted that in the case of one Guatemalan child named Nery Cutzal, his trafficker told him, “Don’t mess with me…You don’t mean anything to me.”

Testifying to Congress about Migrant Children Trafficking

On July 9, 2024, I testified before the U.S. Senate in a roundtable called “The Exploitation Crisis: How the U.S. Government is Failing to Protect Migrant Children from Trafficking and Abuse.” Hosted by Senators Chuck Grassley, Bill Cassidy, and Ron Johnson, the roundtable focused on addressing the lack of protections that have led to the problem of migrant children trafficking.

During my opening remarks, I described how cartels exploit the UC Program by manipulating the ORR to send unaccompanied migrant children to unvetted sponsors. My testimony also involved material from an Office of Inspector (OIG) General Report, published in May 2023.

I was part of a group of several experts, which also included:

• ORR whistleblowers Tara Rodas and Debra White
• Shevaun Harris, the current Secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families

What Was Said by Our Group During the Senate Roundtable

Our discussion with the Senators hosting the roundtable discussion included more specific details regarding what is happening to migrant children. Here are some of the highlights of our group’s testimony on migrant children trafficking:

Senator Cassidy: “Do we have a sense of why they’re not acting on this?”

Me: “I honestly don’t. ORR is completely incompetent in the management of these children, and that is reflected in the recent OIG report.”

Senator Lankford: “You became aware that [HHS ORR] sent 329 children to the same address? Who else knew about that?”

Ms. White: “The entire executive leadership at Health and Human Services knew about it. As well as the Office of Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigative Division.”

Senator Grassley: “What training did HHS require on how to identify and prevent child trafficking?”

Ms. Rodas: “HHS has a decade of evidence showing they’re incapable of identifying trafficking concerns, documenting those concerns, and reporting. Their refusal to share information with law enforcement is going to continue to result in children being put with dangerous sponsors who abuse and exploit them.”

Senator Cassidy: “Cartels are on both sides of the border? And they are tracking kids once they are released?”

Me: “Cartels are bringing children to the border in a very organized fashion, using cloud technology to maintain track of these children.”

Senator Johnson: “Dr. Sadulski, in your testimony, you left out one sentence: ‘Unaccompanied minors are especially vulnerable when enroute to the border. A specific case I researched; a trafficker harvested a 12-year-old’s eye for $15,000 in Mexico.’”

Me: “That’s correct, sir.”

Senator Cornyn: “What are the factors that incentivize parents to send their children?”

Me: “A lot of these children are kidnapped. As well as parents are selling their children. Some are hoping to send their child for a better life. Other times, they are coerced.”

Senator Cassidy: “Open border policies encouraged one of the worst rates of illegal immigration ever, including over 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children. The surge of migrant children overwhelmed ORR. ORR staff were directed to prioritize speed over safety.”

Senator Johnson: “Why are they doing this?”

Me: “It comes down to corruption. Cartel members have explained that people who wouldn’t even be involved in trafficking people right now are trafficking people. Because it’s so easy to get them into the United States.

“I’ve interviewed former sex traffickers who are currently incarcerated in the U.S. and abroad. Sadly, I’ve found that there is a market for juvenile organ harvesting. Unaccompanied minors are especially vulnerable, en route to the border, of this threat.”

Ms. Rodas: “El Salvador was one of the most violent places on the planet. Run by gangs like MS-13. A DHS whistleblower revealed in 2021 that members of organizations like MS-13 began sponsoring children through the UAC program. These are known sex traffickers, labor traffickers….”

Ms. Harris: “We interviewed a young girl who shared that on her journey over the border people in her group were robbed, several girls – including her – were raped and she witnessed a decapitation. This is the reality the federal government has created by failing to secure the border.”

Ms. White: “I have interviewed these children, and I have stories that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Despite raising case after case of trafficking, HHS ORR leadership and the contractor allowed children to be trafficked, and the taxpayers continue to fund it.”

Ms. Rodas: “I think about a 13-year-old girl from El Salvador. Maria was released to a sponsor with confirmed MS-13 gang affiliation. It is unthinkable. What keeps me up at night is wondering if Maria is safe. More than 500K children like Maria have arrived at our border — alone!”

A Solution to Migrant Children Trafficking

There are at least 85,000 migrant children unaccounted for, and this crisis continues. I believe the solution to eliminating migrant children trafficking begins with a bipartisan Congressional Review Act to provide meaningful oversight over the UC program.

Last April, the Health and Human Services codified harmful policies that, if not amended, will result in further exploitation of migrant children. According to Senator Grassley, these harmful practices include:

• Lax or optional sponsor vetting
• Refusal to consider a sponsor’s criminal record, including illegal drug use, history of abuse or neglect, or other necessarily disqualifying child welfare concerns
• Weak standards for post-release home studies to determine a child’s status or safety once in the custody of a sponsor
• Restrictions on whistleblowers’ rights to disclose to Congress and the HHS Inspector General (IG) information on wrongdoing and misconduct in the program. 

The Congressional Review Act would bring meaningful changes to the UC program and overturn these harmful practices, preventing further exploitation.

Preventing migrant children trafficking is not a political issue; it is a moral, ethical, and safety issue that could save the lives of thousands of children. Bipartisan support for this Act is essential to safeguard vulnerable migrant children and prevent them from being preyed on by human traffickers.