More than 600 Children ‘Recycled’ by Migrant Smugglers At Border: ICE

More than 600 children were “recycled” through the border over the last year, including some who were carried across eight times, by a different person each time, looking to exploit lax policies to gain a foothold in the U.S., a top ICE official told Congress on Wednesday.

And those are only cases that were detected, officials said.

The recycled children are one of the more disturbing aspects of illegal border flow over the last 12 months, which set records for the number of children and families who snuck into the U.S.

The families were drawn by a lax policy, imposed by a federal court, that gives adults a quick release into communities as long as they brought a son or daughter with them.

The result was massive levels of fraud, with adults renting or outright buying unrelated children in order to present themselves as a family, authorities said. In some cases it was a one-off, but in other instances children were “recycled” across the border multiple times, said Derek N. Benner, acting deputy director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We’ve identified over 600 children that have been recycled,” he said.

Board of Peace demands Netanyahu cease Gaza airstrikes as Israel refuses to comply with peace plan

Denmark’s military conscription ‘expanded and strengthened’ as tensions mount with DC and Moscow

Growing Number of Conservatives Turn on DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin Over Soft ‘Immigration Reform’ Rhetoric

FIRST ON FOX: Trump to open direct line with military families in ground-up readiness push

Outrage over noncitizens allegedly voting in elections ignites probe into Garden State Dems

To Secure AG Job, Blanche Kills off Anti-Weaponization Fund Designed to Compensate Victims of Gov’t Witch Hunts, Like Most J6ers

Nancy Guthrie ransom notes release follows Unabomber ‘precedent’ that cracked case, expert says

SEE IT: Dashcam shows Florida trooper chasing alleged street takeover suspect at 140 mph

Chris ‘Fredo’ Cuomo Tries Playing Tough Guy for Anthony Fauci, Gets Nuked By Social Media

WNBA Head Coach Protests Sophie Cunningham with ‘Trans Kids’ Shirt During Game

Trump can declare Iran victory now and withdraw troops, former counterterror official argues

Races to watch in Michigan as establishment Democrats face off against challenges on their left flank

Top Trump ally warns super PAC bankrolled by Dem billionaire is meddling in his GOP primary

Trump v. Smithsonian: A timeline of how the White House fight over ‘woke’ history unfolded

First showdown in race for Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat puts GOP hopefuls to the test

That means that once they came across with an unrelated adult, they were then separated by the smuggling operation and taken back south across the border to be brought back again with a new adult, he said.

“Some of them had indicated they’ve made the trip as many as eight times, with separate, unrelated adults each time,” he added.

Mark Morgan, acting commissioner at Customs and Border Protection, recounted one case where they caught a Honduran man who’d “bought a child” for $80, then attempted to cross into the U.S.

“Why did he do it? Because the loopholes in our system told him — and the smugglers made sure he understood — ‘You grab a child, that’s your passport into the United States,’” Mr. Morgan told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. Benner detailed another case where a Guatemalan man showed up at the border with a girl he claimed to be his daughter. Authorities didn’t immediately sniff out the fake relationship and under the lax U.S. policies toward families the man and girl were released.

The girl was “repeatedly” sexually abused and beaten, until she was finally rescued, Mr. Benner said.

ICE began in the spring to use DNA testing to try to weed out fraudulent families at the border.

That involved taking people who presented as families, but where suspicions were raised, and testing DNA to try to confirm the purported relationship. At the height, Mr. Benner said, about a quarter of the cases tested came back as fake families.

Cartels began to adjust their strategies and the rate is now 13% to 15%, he said.