Peterson was new on the job. And this article is fine but I think there's a Mormon connection, somehow. Mesa is a Mormon stronghold. There are more trafficking and birth tourist schemes than just sex trafficking.

Added: Peterson had been a missionary there. He has connections at both ends and I think that's how he found the support system here. Church denounces: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mormon-church-leader-denounces-officials-adoption-scheme-66918354 Mormons are about 11% of Marshallese Islanders. If those islands have the crowding other islands do, mothers could easily be sold on giving their baby American citizenship.