EXCLUSIVE — A Latina House Republican plans to propose a pair of immigration bills that would crack down on fake migrant families coming across the southern border and dramatically heighten penalties on employers who hire people ineligible to work.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) on Friday will debut two bills, one of which she said is intended to protect migrant children from being trafficked into the country under the pretense of being part of a family — sometimes just a cover for the child to be put into forced labor in the United States.

“There’s an unsettling trafficking ring in our country, where children are being sold for sex and cheap labor after being brought into our country by coyotes claiming to be their family relatives,” Luna said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

“Tens of thousands of children are going missing and being exploited, and this administration is doing nothing about it,” Luna said.

“We have companies that are making them mop the floors of slaughterhouses and fill up cereal bags at sweatshops,” she added referring to a 2023 New York Times investigation that found the Biden administration had lost track of 85,000 unaccompanied minors released to sponsors in the U.S.

The first piece of legislation, the Family Reunification Act, would require all families apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border to undergo rapid DNA tests while in custody to ensure the child and parent are related. This type of speedy DNA testing was done during the Trump administration, but President Joe Biden halted the measure early on in his administration.

The Washington Examiner reported in 2019 that 30% of groups suspected to be posing as fake families were determined through DNA testing not to be related.

If a child and adult who undergo DNA tests, under the Luna bill are determined not to be related, the child would be separated from the adult for protection as federal investigators look into why the child is being smuggled.

The second bill, the Illegal Labor Accountability Act, would triple the penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, particularly children who are trafficked into the country and forced to work.

“Under the Biden administration, almost 2.5 million people have crossed our borders illegally,” Luna said. “We have greedy companies unlawfully hiring illegals, both adults and children, for cheap labor instead of hiring Americans. Not only are they exploiting these immigrants, but they are not being properly held accountable for it. We need to put an end to this.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Under the Biden administration, nearly half a million unaccompanied children have come across the border, a staggering figure that far outpaces any previous White House, including two-term administrations.

Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Don Bacon (R-NE) have co-sponsored the Family Reunification Act, while most of the same lawmakers plus Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) have co-sponsored the Illegal Labor Accountability Act.