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.

Fox News Poll: Democratic unity, Republican crossovers shape Ohio Senate race

Rubio warns risk of escalation in Russia-Ukraine war is ‘more real than it was two years ago’

Video: WNBA Punishes Brittney Griner for Manhandling Angel Reese in On-Court Clash

Former primary rival resurfaces to challenge scandal-plagued Graham Platner in Maine Senate race

‘A Lot of Complaints Had Been Made’: Henry Nowak’s Murderer Was Known to Cops, Had Been Arrested Previously, Never Charged

Detective arrested after allegedly pulling gun on fellow officer for microwaving fish at police station

Cold case of missing news anchor rocked by claim of confession in roadside meltdown: report

LATE BREAKING: ’60 Minutes’ Star Reporter Scott Pelley Fired After Mouthing Off to New Boss Chosen by Bari Weiss

WATCH: Rubio scorches claim Trump weighed finances in Iran decisions: ‘Not even for a millisecond’

Sex criminals, gang members abused child immigration program to enter US, DHS reveals

BREAKING VIDEO: UK Police Retreat as Brits Furious About Murder of Henry Nowak Take to Streets, Pelt Cops with Enormous Garbage Cans

Bessent clarifies threat against Bill Pulte: He said he was going to ‘kick his a**’

Aid group warns Ebola could have spread for three months before first cases were detected

Rubio grilled over Trump’s national security picks and foreign policy priorities: ‘It’s not funny, secretary’

Judge with intimate ties to Dem Party’s key Russia Hoax players behind latest anti-Trump decision

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.