Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is concerned that unaccompanied migrant children are being forced into sex trafficking and labor in the United States. Smith has proposed legislation to make sure all children in America are safe and protected from such terror and mistreatment. In an interview with CBN News, Smith shared the details of the bill he proposed called the SECURE Act of 2023 that would require the Biden administration to locate the tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children whose whereabouts are unknown within the United States.
In the bill, Smith is proposing that the FBI and the Secretary of Homeland Security work together and report to Congress every unaccompanied migrant child cared for by the Office of Refugee Resettlement since January 1, 2021. The number of minors the officials must locate is about 345,000. The bill also will penalize departments with a $100,000 fine for each day the required status report misses a deadline. The fine is capped at $10 million annually until agencies account for the unaccompanied children.
Smith urged congresspeople to put politics aside and recognize that this issue is not political, but about the safety and security of children, which he believes is something everyone would support. Tim Ballard, a former government agent depicted in the movie Sound of Freedom testified at a hearing earlier this week. He spoke about how an unaccompanied child who has been abandoned and is alone deserves to be protected.
Sex trafficking survivor Jose Lewis Alfaro also testified earlier this week urged leaders to consider training safety officials on how to “treat all victims with empathy,” noting that the issue is a human one and all victims must be helped.
Smith is hopeful that his bill will receive bipartisan support and that it will put pressure on the White House to address the concerns surrounding the tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children who are in danger throughout the United States.