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.

Dozens Taken to Hospital, Days-Long Evacuation in Effect as Massive Chemical Leak Plagues Ohio City

Lindsay Clancy’s Lawyer Slapped Down by Judge For Trying to Investigate Holdout Juror and Examine His Phone

Ilhan Omar is not the Minnesota congresswoman’s ‘real name’: sources

Australia pastor case ‘canary in the coal mine’ for American Christian freedoms: TPUSA leader

Macron returns to Paris on war footing to quash ‘illegitimate’ riots he blames on ‘organized ultra-left groups’

Mamdani expected to face legal trouble over PETA-backed horse carriage ban

Slotkin’s viral ‘threat’ to conservatives takes new twist as student moves to hold her accountable: ‘Shocking’

Breaking: High-Ranking Virginia Dem Arrested on Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering Charges

Feds seek suspect in attempted firebomb attack on ICE facility

Alleged sham marriage ‘mastermind’ caught on video saying sanctuary state is ‘best place’ for illegals

ICE Calls Out Virginia County for Protecting Illegal Alien Child Predators

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: French Jews forced into hiding as rioters terrorize streets

Man arrested for threatening another female lawmaker in Australia

Why Banks Are Suddenly Competing to Pause Your 21% Interest Into 2028

Report: Minnesota Dem Senate Nominee Spent Taxpayer Money to Teach Junkies How to Shove Drugs Up Their Posteriors

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.