Attorney General Jeff Sessions is exploring the possibility of using DNA tests to verify the parentage of illegal alien adults who attempt to cross the southern border with children, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement Tuesday after interviewing Sessions on his radio show Washington Watch.

“Sessions is talking to congressional members and is hoping for a legislative fix. The AG wants an immigration policy that is just, fair and enforceable. They talked about making sure that these really are the parents of these kids,” Perkins said.

He continued, “They are looking at how to use DNA tests in the field to verify they are parents and not traffickers. The reality is if American parents put their kids through what these immigrant parents have done to their kids — they would be charged with child abuse.”

Around 12,000 children are currently in the custody of Health and Human Services after entering the United States. According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, 10,000 of the 12,000 children in the care of HHS arrived in the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.

“We know for a fact that a lot of adults taking children along are not related to them. [They] could be muggers. They could be human traffickers. It’s a very unhealthy dangerous thing and it needs to end. We need to return to a good lawful system,” Sessions told Perkins on his broadcast.

The Daily Caller sent an inquiry to the Justice Department asking about Perkins’ assertion regarding the idea for DNA tests in the field and is waiting on a response.

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