WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement Chairman, led two roundtables this week examining federal government failures on two fronts: enabling the criminal enterprise that freely trafficked unaccompanied alien children into the country, and the Department of Justice’s continued prosecution of Americans over firearm suppressors.
“Catch and Release, Lose and Forget: Addressing the Crisis of Unaccompanied Alien Children—Part III”
The discussion examined how cartels exploited the Biden Administration’s border policies to traffic unaccompanied alien children (UACs) into the country, the Biden Administration’s failure to monitor these children once here, and the role of Chinese money laundering networks in financing the criminal enterprise.
Subcommittee Chairman Higgins opened the roundtable by transitioning from the humanitarian and bureaucratic failures examined in the Subcommittee’s first two hearings to the criminal enterprise profiting from the crisis.
“Today we turn to the engine that has powered this crisis from the start: the cartels who built a multi-billion-dollar business around trafficking children, and the financial networks that keep their profits moving,” said Subcommittee Chairman Higgins.
Watch the full opening remarks here.
During questioning, Congressman Higgins asked witnesses to detail how an innocent child ends up indebted to a cartel and unable to escape. Participants described how traffickers prey on the hope of vulnerable migrants, using the prior administration’s open-border messaging to lure families with promises of shelter, schooling, and social programs.
Watch the questioning here.
“Suppressing the Second Amendment: Examining DOJ’s Posture Toward Firearm Suppressors”
The discussion examined how fiction has shaped what most Americans believe about suppressors, the lack of any data connecting these devices to violent crime, and the Department of Justice’s continued defense of a registration requirement whose tax foundation Congress has already eliminated.
Subcommittee Chairman Higgins opened the roundtable by setting aside the myth of the “silencer” and turning to the law that has criminalized a hearing protection device for more than 90 years.
“Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement convenes a roundtable to examine the federal government’s posture toward firearms suppressors, and to ask why the Department of Justice is still defending a regulatory scheme that Congress has already dismantled,” said Subcommittee Chairman Higgins.
Watch the full opening remarks here.
During questioning, Congressman Higgins asked witnesses whether a suppressor is any more dangerous than a hammer when it is not attached to a firearm. Participants described the device as effectively a paperweight and called its criminalization under the National Firearms Act of 1934 a generational mistake.
Watch the questioning here.
