House Democrats Question Decline in UFLPA Detentions
Thirteen House Democrats are asking DHS to explain why there have been fewer detentions since March, why no new entities have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List since Jan. 15, and to explain CBP's strategy for enforcing UFLPA in high-priority sectors.
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Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the lead authors, publicized the letter last week. "We write to express our grave concern about reports and new data suggesting that U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act has dropped drastically in recent months despite no evidence that shipments of goods prohibited by the law have slowed," they and their colleagues wrote. They said only one-fourth as many shipments were detained from April to August.
The lack of new entities and the drop in detentions "suggest that combatting forced labor is not a priority for this Administration," they argued.
They asked DHS, "Are lower enforcement numbers associated with any reduction or reorganization of staff (whether temporary or permanent)?"
They asked if the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, or FLETF, which assembles the UFLPA Entity List, has members from all the departments, given cuts at State and Labor.
"Please provide a detailed breakdown of CBP’s spending on UFLPA and Section 307 forced labor enforcement during the two fiscal years from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2025," they wrote.
They also asked for statistics on outside petitions alleging forced labor, and how long it takes to determine if the complaint is worth investigating. They also asked how many of the Withhold Release Orders are due to outside tips vs. self-initiation from the government.