Multiple reports show that immigration officials have detained thousands of fake “families” at the Unites States’ southern border recently. The Washington Times reported that an unnamed official from the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, maintained during a press call on May 1, 2019 that more than 1,000 adult illegal aliens have been apprehended falsely claiming to be the parent of a minor with them since October 1, 2018. This revealing information provides “parameters on the growing phenomenon of adults trying to use someone else’s children to sneak into the U.S” according to TheBlaze.
The Washington Times pinned blame for the problem on a 2015 court ruling. The ruling in question “declared that adults who show up at the border claiming asylum with a juvenile in tow must be released from detention after 20 days — long before their deportation cases can be heard” according to TheBlaze.
The Washington Times noted that the Obama administration cautioned in 2015 that “such a decision would lead to fraudulent families and children being ‘abducted’ so adults could pretend to be families.”
A recent Daily Caller piece contended the figures were considerably higher than those the Washington Times story outlined. In April of this year, the conservative news website claimed that “More than 3,000 fraudulent family cases have been identified by U.S. Border Patrol in the past six months.”
When Kevin McAleenan, acting Homeland Security Secretary, visited the United States’ border with Mexico near McAllen, Texas, he remarked, “It’s very clear that the cartel and smugglers know the weaknesses in our laws. They know that family units and unaccompanied children will be released with no consequences for their illegal entries.”
McAleenan assumed the role of DHS Secretary after Kirstjen Nielsen resigned.
McAleenan insisted his department is now cracking down on illegal immigrant child recycling rings. He said, “The same child is brought across the border with an adult multiple times to try and gain that release that family units are required under court order.”
According to the Daily Caller, “A vast number of these migrants are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, burdening U.S. immigration laws geared mostly toward Mexican nationals.”
McAleenan maintained, “At DHS we’re taking aggressive action to mitigate the crisis to protect vulnerable people in our custody by expanding medical care, creating temporarily facilities, improving transportation, using additional resources from DHS, and other departments throughout the federal government.”
Several of the illegal aliens hailing from Central America are willing to freely admit they’ve been encouraged to try to gain entry into the United States. They’ve been told that having a kid accompany them will boost their odds of being released once they arrive.
A Guatemalan minister who was detained at the Rio Grande Valley said, “We’ve been told if you are a father you can bring your child and you will be helped here if you’re in that situation.” And, why did this pastor embark on a journey to America? He revealed he was lured by newspaper advertisements in Guatemala that made promises of jobs and United States government assistance.
Immigration officials will soon be tackling this challenging situation head on with an efficient DNA processing method according to TheBlaze. The innovative process will be utilized to confirm if family units flooding the southern border are indeed related in order to prevent illegal immigrants from using children to gain entry into the country. The Washington Examiner reported that the DNA tests will start as early as this week.
A DHS official informed the Washington Examiner that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement will start a trial with the 90-minute DNA tests at unspecified locations on the southern border in an effort to verify familial claims and refer for prosecution adults who try to use an unrelated child to take advantage of U.S. policy.” This will be the first time any type of DNA testing has been utilized at the southern border.
The newspaper reported that “Currently, ICE and Customs and Border Protection employees must use verbal statements and written documents to verify family connections.”
The DHS official told the Washington Examiner, “We’re looking at all the investigative tools available. This is something that we’re trying out.” The individual admitted that “no silver bullet” exists for this kind of immigration work and that “Agents will have to continue relying on their training and experience.”
Hopefully, the DNA testing will be the springboard the government needs to get the immigration crises moving in the right direction.
