In an internal document obtained by Yahoo News, the agency says U.S. Customs and Border Protection is looking into ways to spot potential cases of human trafficking among fleeing Afghan refugees.
With U.S. officials seeing “many incidents” of older Afghan men fleeing the country with apparently underage wives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now looking into ways to spot potential cases of human trafficking among the refugees, according to an internal government document obtained by Yahoo News.and other news outlets, including cases of girls saying they had been raped or sexually abused by older men.
“The concern is, we’re seeing a lot of family units with very young girls. These girls are brought into the U.S. as wives,” the official said. "It's not a small number.” CBP did not respond to a request for comment, but a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security defended the evacuation process.
A White House spokesperson declined to address the allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking but defended the vetting process for Afghan refugees. “Intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism professionals are conducting screening and security vetting for all SIV applicants and other vulnerable Afghans,” the spokesperson wrote. “This includes reviews of both biographic and biometric data before they are admitted into the United States.
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