2008 Trafficking Law Not Applicable to Current Alien Flood

A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) concludes that a 2008 human trafficking law — being used by the Obama administration as justification for its release of tens of thousands of Central American illegal alien minors — does not even apply in this situation.

The “William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008” was intended to, and by its clear terms, deals with unwilling victims of human trafficking where criminals bring foreign children or women into the U.S., often to be held captive and forced into prostitution.  The law uses the phrase “unaccompanied alien children” to describe one category of victims.  Federal law defines “unaccompanied alien children” as an illegal alien under the age of 18 who is without “a parent or legal guardian in the United States.”  Yet government data shows that most of the minors flooding across the border have family in the U.S., and the Obama administration says it is sending many of the illegals to live with their families.

The recent arrivals are not victims of coercion.  In many cases, they and their families are willing participants in smuggling operations, having paid smugglers to bring them into the U.S.  An  ICE “Fact Sheet” explains, “Human trafficking and human smuggling are distinct criminal activities, and the terms are not interchangeable.”

“An illegal immigrant who arrives at the U.S. border who is not a victim of trafficking and has family inside the United States should not be benefiting from protections in the 2008 trafficking law,” explained Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at CIS.  “Amending trafficking laws should not become a distraction from addressing the bigger problem of lax enforcement of immigration law — and inappropriate application of law — which continues to encourage people to come to the United States illegally.”

Source: http://www.cis.org/2008-trafficking-law-inapplicable-current-border-crisis

Posted 7/16/14 by Margaret Hull

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