Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson visited the southern border on Tuesday to observe and receive briefings from the Texas Department of Public Safety about issues impacting South Carolina. He was accompanied by Attorneys General Chris Carr from Georgia and Jason Miyares from Virginia during the trip to El Paso, Texas.

“Every state is a border state because we all see the effects of the Biden administration’s open border policy,” Attorney General Wilson stated. “We have State Grand Jury cases that have involved ties to Mexican cartels and resulted in drugs being brought across the border and into South Carolina.”

The Department of Homeland Security reports that between February 2021 and October 2023, 2.5 million people encountered at the southern border were released into the U.S. with notices to appear in immigration court or report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An estimated additional 1.6 million individuals, termed “gotaways,” crossed the border undetected by authorities.

In addition to examining border policy and drug trafficking, Attorney General Wilson is gathering information on human trafficking. In February, he joined attorneys general from 21 other states in demanding answers from the Biden administration regarding minor children being trafficked. A report indicated that unaccompanied immigrant children in federal custody are being released into unsafe conditions, potentially leading to human trafficking situations. The Biden administration disclosed its inability to locate 85,000 migrant children under its care, while a May 2024 Inspector General’s report revealed over 291,000 unaccompanied children had not been issued notices to appear.

“South Carolina’s Human Trafficking Task Force is part of my office, and I’m dedicated to fighting trafficking, so I’m outraged that victims could include children who were in the federal government’s care,” Attorney General Wilson said.