‘It Should Not Happen In The USA!’: Hawley Goes Off On Mayorkas For Allegedly Allowing Child Slavery

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley ridiculed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Biden administration on Wednesday for allegedly allowing child slavery to thrive in the United States.

The New York Times has reported extensively on the crisis of migrant children being exploited for cheap labor throughout the United States, with thousands of children as young as 13 working in factories.

“I tell you what I’m tired of: I’ve had Secretary Mayorkas sit in front of me in a different committee, the Homeland Security Committee, where I asked him at length about the outrage of 250,000 migrant children, unaccompanied, crossing the border in the last two years and tens of thousands of them being sold into slavery,” Hawley said. “Let’s not mince words: they’ve been sold into slavery. When kids are being put into factories, forced to work overnight, forced to work in terrible conditions, they’re not getting paid, they’re not going to school, sometimes they’re not getting fed, that’s slavery.”

“And what I’ve heard from Secretary Mayorkas — don’t take my word for it; you go look at the record, read the transcript — what he told me was, ‘Oh it’s not my problem. We don’t have anything to do with it. Not my problem.’ Now we have a new report from [the Department of Health and Human Services] where they say it’s not their problem,” the Missouri senator continued. “Amazing how this works. Nobody’s responsible, these kids are literally being sold as slaves in the United States of America in the year of 2023 and nobody’s responsible. They don’t want you to come and testify to this committee. You bet they don’t. They don’t want to be put under oath. They don’t want to answer any questions. They don’t want cameras here. They don’t want to take any responsibility. Well I tell you, it’s somebody’s fault. It’s not the kids’ fault.”

Hawley then praised the New York Times for its reporting, citing the story of one teen, 15-year-old Carolina Yoc of Guatemala, who works at a Cheerios factory. Yoc told the Times that her stomach often hurts and she’s tired due to the lack of sleep and stress. (RELATED: ‘Modern Day Slavery’: Sen. Blackburn Says Unaccompanied Migrant Kids Are Being Used For Child Labor, Sex Trafficking)

“Let the record reflect that this administration has let tens of thousands of children be sold into slavery, and they are doing nothing about it,” Hawley said. “We need to figure out what in the world is going on and who’s to be held accountable for this, because I tell you what’s not an acceptable answer: it’s not acceptable to say, ‘It’s not my problem; we wish the kids the best.’ The kids are in danger, the kids are in slavery, the kids are being exploited, and it should not happen in the United States of America!”

Former Border Chief Rodney Scott testified Wednesday during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that under the Biden administration the number of migrant children prone to exploitation has increased.