US Bishops Urge Congress To Protect Migrant Children From Human Trafficking

 

Bishop Mark Seitz, director of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee, has pushed Congress to enact new legislation to shield vulnerable immigrant children from human trafficking.

In a letter to the Senate and the House of Representatives, the U.S. bishops’ migration committee pleaded with them to safeguard the children of unaccompanied immigrants.

Children who are migrants are “most vulnerable” to human trafficking, forced labor, and exploitation, according to the bishops’ letter.

The bishops’ letter claims that human traffickers and abusive working circumstances are to blame for the suffering of a number of immigrant children in the United States. Migrants may still be exploited in the future.

There have been earlier claims that hotel companies were employed to detain and house migrant families and children along the US border with Mexico.