WASHINGTON (TND) -- Among the latest challenges for those tasked with securing the border is an alarming trend of human smugglers using children, even "recycling " them, to make it easier to enter the country.

In an interview with The National Desk,Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said, "Migrants and the smugglers know that's the equivalent of an automatic passport in the United States."

The Border Chief in El Centro, California,USBP Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino,posted photos of children who had been smuggled and heavily dosed with sleep aids to prevent the children from speaking to authorities.

"These criminals are not related to the children they smuggle. These traffickers go to extreme lengths to smuggle these children -- giving them sleep aids to keep them quiet," Bovino said.

This week a Laredo, Texas woman was charged with operating a child smuggling ring, admitting to "sedating a young girl with melatonin gummies."

A similar tactic was also used in a case in Arizona last month.

Diane Sabatino, CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner posted about it on X.

The woman had difficulty waking the children. Officers observed that the children remained extremely groggy while interviewing the children's officers soon discovered there was no family relationship with the children ages 11 and 8," said A. Espinoza, a CBP Officer.

In an investigation published last year by The New York Times,thousands of other children brought to the United States were discovered to be working in grueling jobs in roofing, construction, and factories like meat processing plants.

Lawmakers at a hearing in April 2023 appeared shocked to find little accountability from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which places them with those who say they are friends or family members.

ORR Director Robin Dunn Marcos told lawmakers, "ORR does not track or monitor children after they are released from our care."