Mucarsel-Powell accuses Matt Gaetz, Republicans of human trafficking

When Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) excoriated House Democrats during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, accusing them jumping the shark for supporting and funding “an organization that wants to destroy the United States of America” and “dismantle the state,” members of the Democratic caucus were visibly taken back, even those that chose not to make the trip to Washington and vote by proxy.

Fellow Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) delivered an angry response to Gaetz from the comfort of her home, telling that if he “would rather be acting, than he should go to Hollywood.”

Rep. Mucarsel-Powell took deep offense with Rep. Matt Gaetz and Republicans, saying that the party of Lincoln was “complicit” in human trafficking, equating the border crisis to actual human trafficking.

“Human trafficking you say? Kids that are being trafficked? You were responsible for being complicit, detaining almost 3,000 kids in my district, separating them from their families at the border,” said Mucarsel-Powell “So please spare me the hypocrisy of wanting to have security, separating families, keeping kids detained. We are talking about police brutality, you are talking about militarizing our police.”

Mucarsel-Powell then reverted back to identity politics, referring to Hispanics as “Brown people.”

“Let’s get back to the real issue- violence against Black and Brown people,” added the congresswoman “Yes, Brown. Hispanics. Latinos. They’re not part of a drug cartel. They are not all criminals.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), thousands of children are trafficked by adult illegal aliens looking to exploit the immigration system.

“The reason so many are making the perilous journey through Mexico with a child – whether it’s a fraudulent family or a biological parent or legal guardian – is obvious: many before them were allowed to stay in the United States despite their illegal entry across the border. In the recent past, CBP could hold most families just a few days before releasing them into the U.S. or transferring them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who by a 2015 court order had to release families into the United States within 20 days. The result was that these families were able to remain in the U.S. – often indefinitely.”

In 2019, Mucarsel-Powell was able to effect immigration change in her congressional district by forcing a children’s immigration detention center to close.