U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is calling for a "full-scale" FBI investigation into the disappearance - under the watch of President Joe Biden - of 85,000 migrant children.
Hawley called upon FBI Director Christopher Wray to launch the investigation in a letter that Hawley sent to Wray last week.
The backstory, here, is the southern border crisis that has been taking place under Biden's watch.
Illegal immigrants are entering America at an alarming rate thanks to the open border policies of Biden and his administration. In conjunction with this, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has witnessed 345,000 migrant children come across the U.S.-Mexico border unaccompanied.
The sad fact is that many of these unaccompanied migrant children have disappeared.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has even admitted that it has lost touch with at least 85,000 of these migrant children.
Reporting from the New York Times, among others, has revealed the unfortunate fate of many of these unaccompanied migrant children: they have become the victims of child labor and child smuggling operations.
Hawley detailed the findings in his letter to Wray. The senator writes:
[T]housands of children have been handed over to modern-day slave traders. They are forced into factory work under punishing conditions. They are forced to make auto parts, process meat in slaughterhouses, and reroof houses. They are denied food, education, and sometimes fear for their lives. They suffer sexual violence.
Hawley, in the letter, blames the situation on Biden and his administration's policies, which, according to Hawley, have "loosened vetting processes for sponsors" thereby allowing this abuse of children to take place.
With all this in mind, Hawley, in the letter, argues that it is time for the FBI to launch an investigation into the disappearance of the children.
Hawley, in fact, says it should be a "leading FBI priority."
Hawley writes:
The FBI must mount a full-scale effort to locate these missing children and to bring to justice the criminals who are holding them in modern-day slavery. The FBI must also investigate HHS and the Department of Homeland Security for their role in facilitating the exploitation of these children, in violation of the law.
Hawley believes that what is going on is a clear violation of "the Fair Labor Standards Act, which prohibits the abuse of underage workers, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which designates human trafficking offenses as federal crimes."
We'll have to see if Wray decides to take up the investigation. At the time of this writing, Wray has not responded to Hawley's letter.
