ATEST Testifies Before House Homeland Security Committee
Stressing the need for “whole-of-government” solutions, ATEST Director Terry FitzPatrick testified before a joint hearing of two Congressional subcommittees this week.
The committees were investigating human trafficking along the southern border, and connections to transnational criminal cartels. FitzPatrick noted that not all forced labor and human trafficking is related to undocumented migration, and that American companies ultimately profit from trafficking of migrants to the U.S.
FitzPatrick advocated for three solutions:
- Pass the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act (HR. 5856 and S. 920), which includes funding authorizations for programs in Central America that can reduce migration to the U.S.
- Pass key provisions of the FY24 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Request submitted to Congress by the Biden-Harris Administration. The request includes substantial funds for more asylum officers and social services at the border to improve the processing of asylum seekers, and funding to strengthen enforcement of child labor laws.
- Do not rollback protections for unaccompanied child migrants coming from Central America. Children deserve screening by specially-trained border personnel.
See the full hearing here.
See FitzPatrick’s full testimony here.