U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary

01/14/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/14/2025 14:47

Grassley, Blackburn Introduce Legislation to Halt Child Trafficking at the Border

01.14.2025

Grassley, Blackburn Introduce Legislation to Halt Child Trafficking at the Border

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Judiciary Committee member Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in introducing a bill to protect vulnerable migrant children by boosting security measures at the southern border.

"Over the last four years, child exploitation at our nation's southern border has exploded. This humanitarian crisis is a direct result of the Biden administration's open border policies," Grassley said. "The PRINTS Act would empower law enforcement to identify victims of child trafficking and stamp out this horrific abuse. Congress must act quickly to protect vulnerable children and begin to undo the damage of the Biden administration."

"Under President Biden's open border policies, we are witnessing a devastating humanitarian crisis, and children are the primary victims," Blackburn said. "Abusing and using a child again and again is one of the most heinous acts imaginable, and yet it happens every day along the southern border. Empowering border patrol agents to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14 would give them the tools they need to identify victims of child recycling and stop this abuse in its tracks. Given that the Biden administration carelessly lost track of 85,000 migrant children, passing this legislation could not be more critical."

The Preventing the Recycling of Immigrants is Necessary for Trafficking Suspension (PRINTS) Act would:

  • Authorize Customs and Border Patrol to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14;
  • Require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to publicly report the number of apprehensions involving child traffickers who falsely claim an accompanying child is a relative;
  • Require DHS to submit an annual report to Congress identifying the number of fingerprinted minors;
  • Remove the U.S. Attorney General's authority to waive fingerprinting requirements for individuals illegally crossing the nation's border; and
  • Criminalize child recycling.

Additional cosponsors include Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

Find bill text HERE.

Background:

Last Congress, Grassley exposed the Biden administration's Unaccompanied Children (UC) program for allowing tens-of-thousands of migrant children to be lost or handed over to potential traffickers and criminals. Grassley additionally shared evidence with federal law enforcement to alert them of potential child trafficking and smuggling cases facilitated by the UC program.

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