‘Child Recycling’ Rings Smuggle Migrants into U.S., Says DHS

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told a U.S. House committee on Wednesday that human smugglers are “recycling” minors to enable adult migrants’ entry into the U.S.

“Smugglers and traffickers have caught on that the outdated laws, lack of resources, and bad court decisions effectively give them a free ticket into America,” Secretary Neilsen told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. “We have encountered recycling rings, where innocent young people are used multiple times to help aliens gain illegal entry. As a nation, we simply cannot stand for this.”

She testified that her agency witnessed a 620 percent increase in families, or those posing as families, who are apprehended at the U.S. border with Mexico.

United States Border Patrol Chief of Operations Brian Hastings told reporters during a Tuesday press conference that agents are finding large numbers of fraudulent familial claims.

More