US /

At Border, QAnon Is First to Greet Some Children

Food, prayer, and a 'Let's Go Brandon' T-shirt for all
By Mike L. Ford,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2022 11:05 AM CDT
At Border, QAnon Is First to Greet Some Children
Birds perch on the top of the US-Mexico border fence in Penitas, Texas.   (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

QAnon adherents have positioned themselves in the Arizona desert to intercept unaccompanied minors, ostensibly to protect them from child traffickers. Jason Frank and his pals carry sidearms and Bibles, and they offer food, prayer, and “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirts. According to the New York Times, Frank focuses his efforts around “an unfounded conspiracy theory that migrant children are being funneled into pedophilia rings.” A reporter witnessed Frank and his team intercepting 15 adolescent Guatemalans, all of whom were exhausted after a perilous two-week journey. Through an interpreter, he offered food, prayer, and T-shirts. The children went along willingly, until Border Patrol arrived and took them into custody.

Frank also asked the children to hand over contact information for adults they expected to meet in the US. It’s normal for children to carry such info; however, they expect to be intercepted by Border Patrol, which takes them to shelters and conducts official background checks. An official with the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network—a nonprofit dedicated to the issue of child trafficking—says the group knows of no sex-trafficking schemes among young migrants. "At the border, it’s overwhelmingly people who paid to be smuggled.” The Times says it’s not clear whether Frank has broken any laws, but a local public defender says the group’s work is illegal, starting with the fact that anyone who finds a child alone at the border is required to contact law enforcement immediately. Frank told the Times he always calls after ministering to the children. Read the full story. (More QAnon stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X