In her rebuttal to President Biden's State of the Union handle Thursday evening, Sen. Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, instructed a narrative a few Mexican girl who was a sufferer of intercourse trafficking on the 'age of 12 years, hitting on the toes of the present. administration
“President Biden's border coverage is a shame,” he stated.
The story, whereas tearing, was very deceptive.
Though Ms. Britt didn’t identify the sufferer in her speech, she has already shared the story of a girl who seems to be the identical particular person based mostly on congressional testimony, press releases and information stories.
This girl, Karla Jacinto Romero, is a Mexican citizen who doesn’t stay in the US and who has usually spoken about her experiences of being pressured into sexual slavery for 4 years. In 2023, Ms. Jacinto participated in an occasion close to the Texas border with Mexico that was additionally attended by three senators, together with Ms. Britt. In a video launched shortly after that journey, Ms. Britt mentioned Ms. Jacinto's experiences.
In her speech on Thursday, Ms. Britt spoke of the harrowing story as a part of a critique of President Biden's border insurance policies, saying that “we're not going to be okay with this taking place in a 3rd world nation “. She added that “that is the US of America, and it's previous time, in my view, that we begin performing like this.”
In reality, as first reported by the unbiased journalist Jonathan Katz on TikTok on Friday, Ms. Jacinto's experiences didn’t occur in the US. She testified that she was kidnapped in Mexico Metropolis and that her harrowing expertise of being raped hundreds of occasions happened solely in Mexico. Moreover, she stated the kidnapping happened in 2002 and he or she was rescued in 2006. Ms. Jacinto continues to stay in Mexico and doesn’t seem to have ever lived in the US or sought asylum there.
In different phrases: None of this occurred through the administration of President Biden, nor does it appear to have something to do together with his insurance policies relating to the border of the US with Mexico. However that didn't cease the first-term senator from strongly hinting that the president may have one way or the other prevented that from taking place, utilizing rhetoric that appeared calibrated to inflame public fears about immigration.
“We all know that President Biden didn't simply create this border disaster,” he stated. “He invited.”
Ms. Jacinto didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. A spokesman for Ms. Britt, Sean Ross, stood by her speech.
“The story that Senator Britt instructed was 100% right,” he stated in a press release. “And there are extra harmless victims of this type of disgusting and brutal trafficking by the cartels than ever earlier than. The insurance policies of the Biden administration — the insurance policies on this nation that the president falsely says are humane — have empowered the cartels and acted as a magnet for historic ranges of migrants making the perilous journey to our border.”
He didn’t instantly reply to a follow-up query about what direct duty Mr. Biden had for what Ms. Jacinto skilled or what an anecdote about intercourse trafficking abroad solely has to do with border insurance policies. of the US.
