U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) last week urged floor action in the U.S. Senate on her End Child Trafficking Now Act, which would require a DNA test to determine the familial relationship between an alien and an accompanying minor trying to enter the United States.
“Adults attempting to slip across our borders under the guise of being a parent or relative to a minor must be DNA tested to prove they are related,” said Sen. Blackburn, who on March 23 introduced S. 903 with original cosponsors U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) also joined as a cosponsor of the bill.
The measure aims to prevent drug cartels and transnational criminal gangs from trafficking and exploiting migrant children to gain illegal entry into America, according to Sen. Blackburn.
“Drug cartels and gangs are using children to falsely present themselves as family units and seek asylum at our southern border,” she explained. “These unaccompanied minors are especially vulnerable to trafficking and are often forced to perform sex acts.”
Making DNA tests mandatory on anyone claiming a family relationship with a minor, added Sen. Blackburn, would “send a powerful message that traffickers will be caught and aggressively prosecuted.”
If enacted, S. 903 would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deport alien adults if they refuse a DNA test and mandates a maximum 10-year prison sentence for all alien adults who fabricate family ties or guardianship over a minor, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Blackburn’s office.
Additionally, S. 903 would criminalize “child recycling,” which happens when the same child is used repeatedly to gain entry by alien adults who are neither relatives nor legal guardians, the summary says.
If family ties or legal guardianship cannot be proven with the accompanying adult, then S. 903 would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to process the child as an unaccompanied minor under current law.
In August 2019, Sen. Blackburn introduced similar legislation, S. 2420, that stalled in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.