Fact Sheet: Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UACs) https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-unaccompanied-migrant-children-uacs/ "An estimated 75%-80% of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border have travelled with smugglers. The Congressional Research Service states that some of these smugglers sell migrant children to human traffickers and situations of forced labor and prostitution in order to recoup their costs. UACs who are apprehended by border officials are likely to be experiencing trauma and consequent mental health concerns as a result of these experiences. Deporting UACs presents an increased risk of returning them to contexts of trafficking, abuse and exploitation." Unaccompanied Alien Children and the Crisis at the Border https://cis.org/Report/Unaccompanied-Alien-Children-and-Crisis-Border
All the Unaccompanied Migrant Children information can be found on-line from multiple sources including U.S. government website. There is no disagreement that 75% to 80% of Unaccompanied Migrant Children arrive at the U.S. border being smuggled by coyotes. There is only minor disagreement about the percentage of these Unaccompanied Migrant Children who are forced into slavery and prostitution because the percentage has varied by year. Let's take the middle estimate that 50% of these 75%-80% of Unaccompanied Migrant Children are being forced into slavery and prostitution by smugglers. Is your solution just to release these children back into the hands of the coyotes? Your only other options are to lock them or ship them back to where they came from.
I'm addressing your implication that a "huge majority" are sex trafficked. Of course parents will use coyotes to cross their children, they're familiar w/the crossings, are relatively safe (or people wouldn't use them) but get a bad rep from the bad apples who do the cartel's bidding & exploit migrants, and generally get lumped into the same human trafficking umbrella in people's minds. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/i...human-smuggling-why-two-crimes-aren-t-n785771 https://www.latinousa.org/2014/09/12/smugglers/ 50%? GTFO or post sources
There are links in the two citations I provided which go directly to government data and reports. Go read the links. As I stated it varies by year. And since we barely know how many children were successfully smuggled into the country (much less how many adult illegal immigrants successfully made it in) -- it is difficult to tell what exact percentage of these children were forced into slavery or prostitution. The Unaccompanied Migrant Children caught at the border obviously don't make it to the next step of being forced into slavery or prostitution -- so these retained children don't provide much guidance. In some cases if a family of the Unaccompanied Migrant Child cannot pay then the child is forced into slavery or prostitution. Only the police raids that free these migrant children across the country give some concept of the large scale of this problem -- which drives information about the percentage of migrant children each year forced into slavery or prostitution.
I know. Zerohedge, lol. Record Number Of Migrant Children Sitting In Biden's Border Patrol 'Cages' BY TYLER DURDEN TUESDAY, MAR 09, 2021 - 14:15 A record number of migrant children are being kept in Border Patrol 'cages' as a surge in migrants continues to overwhelm the Biden administration's ability to keep up. Children sleeping in cages built by the Obama-Biden administration (2014) As of Monday, as over 3,200 unaccompanied minors were reported in Border Patrol facilities, with nearly half being held beyond the legal three-day limit, according to CBS News, which added that the Office of Refugee Resettlement only has around 500 beds available near the southern border to handle the influx of children entering US custody. Fort Lee Army Base in Virginia to help with the surge. A leaked document revealed how the administration is being "overwhelmed" by child migrants, according to Axios. The Border Patrol stations housing the 3,200 migrant children are different from a migrant overflow facility recently operated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Carrizo Springs, Texas. Border Patrol stations, which migrants have dubbed "dog kennels" and "ice boxes," have cinder-block cells meant to temporarily hold adult migrants. CBP is also holding unaccompanied children in a large "soft-sided" facility in south Texas that has more space and accommodations than Border Patrol stations; though it is designed for short-term custody as well. -CBS News At present, the refugee office is housing over 8,100 migrant children while it works to expand capacity. According to documents obtained by CBS News, there is an escalating 'humanitarian, logistical and political' crisis facing President Biden at the US-Mexico border - which Republicans blame on Biden's policies and immigration promises. Meanwhile, Biden has been using a Trump-era policy of rapidly expelling immigrants using a public health law, however they have shielded unaccompanied minors from the expulsions - resulting in the transfer of more than 7,000 children to US refugee agency shelters in February - a record high. The Office of Refugee Resettlement tells CBS News that they are working "aggressively" to release migrant children into the custody of sponsors - typically family members residing in the United States. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cited "extraordinary circumstances" and allowed shelters to return to pre-pandemic bed levels as long as they implement enhanced COVID-19 mitigation protocols.