New Senate bipartisan border bill introduced in wake of Trump election victory

The Border Smuggling Crackdown Act raises federal penalties based on the number of people smuggled and severity of harm, aiming to deter organized human smuggling.

"Criminals and human traffickers who exploit and smuggle human beings across our Southern Border must pay a heavy price. They threaten our national security and exploit victims of trafficking," Ossoff said in a statement.  Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate. 

In recent years, federal authorities have reported an uptick in the kidnapping and extortion of migrants in U.S. border cities, as human smuggling operations increasingly shift from people to transnational criminal networks.