(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had a heated exchange with an immigration policy witness during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday. The focus was on the Biden administration’s attempts to undermine immigration law.
The tension escalated as Luna voiced concerns about child trafficking cases at the southern U.S. border.
Luna presented a video showing a man allegedly posing as the parent of trafficked children. She directly responded to David Bier, an associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. Bier claimed that the Trump administration caused trauma through the defunct family separation policy.
Why was @CatoInstitute’s David Bier laughing about child trafficking at the border?
Disgusting display of ignorance. pic.twitter.com/4eek7BEvnk
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) January 17, 2024
“You talk about intentional trauma and that the Trump administration caused intentional trauma by separating these children from their quote-unquote ‘parents.’ The fact is that one, you don’t know these people? Why are you laughing? Mr. Bier, why are you laughing?” Luna queried during the hearing, as reported by the Daily Caller.
Bier responded by claiming that he laughed because Luna used “‘quote-unquote parents’” to suggest they might not be the real parents of potentially trafficked children. Luna fired back, asserting that he had “no idea” about the authenticity of the individuals claiming to be the parent.
Bier countered, adding that he did “have an idea” that the man was the parent. Luna, in response, questioned sarcastically, “Really, are you psychic? Have you won the lotto, Mr. Bier? I don’t think you have.”
In what seemed like a dismissive tone, Bier responded, “No. No. You want family separation.” Luna clarified that the so-called family separation is necessary for border authorities to verify the authenticity of individuals claiming to be the parents of smuggled children.
“These kids are being trafficked,” Luna emphasized, adding, “I’m a mother. We can go back and forth, but I am done talking to you.”
The 2022 Federal Human Trafficking Report from the Human Trafficking Institute reported 363 new cases of human trafficking in 2022. Of these cases, 34% involved minors and the age of 28% of them is unknown. The report did not specify whether the trafficked children were smuggled by potentially fake parents.
