Guatemala is seeking help from the State of Texas to counter child trafficking and abuse
Guatemala is seeking help from the Texas Attorney General to investigate child trafficking in the country by US NGOs, according to investigative journalist Sara Carter.
On her website yesterday, Carter described obtaining an official letter sent by the Guatemalan government to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The letter was sent to Paxton on Saturday.
“Guatemala’s Attorney General is investigating ongoing criminal claims that a number of American tax payer funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating both inside and outside the United States are complicit in the ongoing trafficking, abuse and disappearance of children from its nation, according to an official Guatemalan letter obtained by this investigative columnist.”
The letter alleges that unaccompanied minors and adolescents are being trafficked from Guatemala into the US and suffering “sexual and physical abuse” at facilities that are run by NGOs funded by the US taxpayer.
Billions of dollars have been granted by the US to NGOs working to aid illegal migrants entering the US.
“As a Prosecutor’s Office, Ministerio Publico of Guatemala, have received a criminal complaint that states some criminal actions, which we see with great concern,” Angel Pineda, Guatemala’s Secretary General, told Carter.
“Due to the situation that is happening in Texas, regarding different forms of abuses of some Guatemalan children and adolescents, when the institution received that criminal complaint, the institution has started investigations, so it is necessary to work on this matter in an integral way.
“That is why, I have been authorized to ask for the collaboration of prosecutor Paxton so we can work together and protect Guatemalan children, and have sent a letter in that matter.”
In the letter, Attorney General María Consuelo Porras lays out in detail the shocking allegations against these government-funded American NGOs.
“These Guatemalan children have reportedly been placed in shelters and organizations throughout Texas under the guise of providing them with a family environment. Disturbingly, there have been reports and documented situations of sexual abuse in these shelters, which is a huge violation of the rights and dignity of these children.”
The letter places a significant portion of the blame for the abuses on the State of Texas.
“The State of Texas bears much of the responsibility for these lost children, who have been transferred to the border and processed migratory (through migration procedures) in Texas apparently fully aware of this situation.”
Porras continues: “You know, deficiencies in security and diplomacy related to the border between the United States and Mexico have resulted in a significant increase in drug trafficking, but also a devastating emergence of human trafficking. In relation to the new complaint that has been filed with this institution, a horrifying pattern of the disappearance of children from Guatemala has been brought to our attention, and it has been reported to the Public Ministry that a complex network involving Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating within Guatemala, who collaborate with specific entities in the State of Texas, are implicated in the abuse of Guatemalan children when they are away from their parents and do not have someone to protect them.”
Carter reached out to Attorney General Paxton for comment, but at time of publication had received no response.
American NGOs have already attracted the attention of lawmakers for violations of the law and for failing to protect the migrants in their custody. As Carter notes, these NGOs have included Christian organisations like Annunciation House, a Catholic NGO that is currently being sued by Attorney General Paxton.
In February last year, The New York Times published a detailed exposé on the abuse of migrant children in jobs across the United States. Many are forced to work in violation of child-labour laws. Nearly 130,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered the US governments shelter system in the fiscal year 2022.