Over 2,000 suspects said to be involved in Internet child porn and child sex offenses have been nabbed in its first eight months of operation, the Department of Homeland Security said March 4 of its Operation Predator program.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Michael Garcia told the House Immigration, Border Security, and Claims Subcommittee the program aims at stopping Internet child pornography and sex predators both in the U.S. or internationally.
"Investigators were unearthing remarkable numbers of child pornographers on the Internet, human smuggling organizations trafficking in children for sexual exploitation, and the relatively new phenomenon of ‘sex tourists' -- American citizens who travel to other countries to engage in sex with minors," Garcia told the subcommittee.
He also spoke of a Texas case involving 19 people, including children, found dead in the back of a tractor trailer, which traced to what he said were the arrests and indictments of a smuggling ring leader and 13 other individuals – activity he said illustrates that criminal groups could exploit border security to smuggle illegal aliens and even child predators.
"These individuals could be mere administrative fugitives. Or they may be something much worse, such as the child predators I have mentioned," Garcia testified. "And while sexual predators are dangerous threats in their own right, we must recognize that border vulnerabilities could be exploited for even graver purposes: terrorists can -- and indeed have -- enter the country on false premises, and then simply disappear into the interior.
In the cases of the over 2,000 alleged child porners and child sex predators, many of whom turned out to be illegal immigrants, he said, officials matched immigration databases with Megan's Law directories.
At least one lawmaker praised the Operation Predators effort. "This is an extremely important program," said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) to Cox News Service. "There is nothing more important than protecting our children." But she also cautioned that the program administrators and investigators should beware certain "cultural nuances" that only give the impression of sexual misconduct, like some which permit marriage between minors and adults, she told Cox News.
