A senior adviser to former President Donald Trump said this week that if he is elected to another term, Trump would reinstate a key policy from his first tenure to fight child trafficking. Lynne Patton told Breitbart News that the former president committed to reinstating the Title 42 asylum policy, which he utilized during his first term.
Patton said that the effort would “immediately and safely return children, migrant children, unaccompanied minors, back to their own families in their own countries where they belong.”
Trump instituted the policy during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many conservatives cite Title 42 as a major reason why the number of border crossings fell significantly during Trump’s tenure.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced that he would allow Title 42 to expire, leading to a significant increase in crossings at the southern border.
Patton said that the end of the asylum policy “forces migrant children to be released into the interior of the United States, where they are at the mercy of these predators, and so it’s extremely dangerous.”
She added that the policy was not just based on the country’s COVID response, but also to “prevent unaccompanied minors” from being exposed to “unsafe conditions.”
The adviser said that Biden’s decision to allow Title 42 to expire was “inexplicable.”
Patton said that the former president is “still focused on saving children.” She also cited Trump’s efforts to shut down the website Backpage, which was used for human trafficking.
She said that the Trump administration “indicted seven people who were responsible for operating and running and pimping men and women out on that page.”
The adviser’s statements came as Texas law enforcement found a five-year-old girl near the border who was found alone prior to crossing into the United States.
In addition, federal law enforcement apprehended 10,000 migrants attempting to enter the country near Tucson, Arizona during the previous week.
Week in Review…
– 10,000 Apprehensions
– 430 Rescues
– 21 Human Smuggling Events
– 11 Narcotics Seizures
– 6lbs. of Fentanyl
– 6lbs. of Methamphetamine
– 3 Firearms #HonorFirst pic.twitter.com/vhci2Tzzkd— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) July 28, 2023
Customs and Border Protection agents also rescued more than 400 migrants who were stranded in the desert and intercepted a number of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
