Alabama Senator Katie Britt clarified her use of a graphic anecdote during her Republican response to the State of the Union address, acknowledging that the incident she described did not occur during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
During her speech, Britt recounted a woman’s account of being “sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12,” condemning what she termed “President Biden’s border crisis” as “despicable” and “almost entirely preventable.”
In an interview with Fox News’s Shannon Bream, Britt clarified her remarks, stating, “No, Shannon, I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12. So I didn’t say a teenager; I didn’t say a young woman, a grown woman. A woman, when she was trafficked when she was 12.”
Freelance journalist Jonathan Katz investigated the story referenced by Britt and found it took place in Mexico in the mid-2000s. According to a 2023 press release from Senator Marsha Blackburn, Britt, along with Senators Blackburn and Cindy Hyde-Smith, visited Eagle Pass, Texas, in January 2023 to hear from human trafficking survivor Karla Jacinto and others. Jacinto has publicly shared her story, recounting years of exploitation starting at age 12 and her subsequent activism.
“The Senators learned about cartel activity in Mexico and the work being done to rescue victims of human trafficking,” the press release said.
The woman whose story Alabama Sen. Katie Britt appeared to have shared in the Republican response to the State of the Union as an example of President Joe Biden’s failed immigration policies told CNN she was trafficked before Biden’s presidency and said legislators lack empathy when using the issue of human trafficking for political purposes.
Jacinto criticized politicians’ lack of empathy and accused them of seeking only photo opportunities. She emphasized the importance of addressing human trafficking with sincerity rather than exploiting it for political purposes.
“I hardly ever cooperate with politicians because it seems to me that they only want an image — a photo — and that, to me, is not fair,” Karla Jacinto said.
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When contacted for comment, Senator Britt’s office did not respond. This isn’t the first time Britt has mentioned the story; as per her social media account, she previously mentioned it on Capitol Hill in September 2023.
In response to Britt’s remarks, White House spokesman Andrew Bates urged her to focus on bipartisan border legislation rather than spreading falsehoods. Bates emphasized the necessity of prioritizing national security and combating human trafficking over political agendas.
“Instead of telling more debunked lies to justify opposing the toughest bipartisan border legislation in modern history, Senator Britt should stop choosing human smugglers and fentanyl traffickers over our national security and the Border Patrol Union.”
Last month, Senate Republicans blocked a major bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package that would have enacted restrictive border measures amid a torrent of attacks on the bill by former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans.
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