Staff Reports
The New York Times recently published an article that revealed a disturbing truth about the majority of migrant children, aged 12 and up, who cross the border illegally without a parent. These children are being forced to work “brutal” jobs, often under the table and in violation of child labor laws. The article went on to state that caseworkers had lost touch with at least 85,000 of the hundreds of thousands of migrant children that had been allowed to stay in the country with a sponsor, 130,000 just last year. Interviews with 60 caseworkers revealed that most of the children, as young as 12, were working long hours at factory or restaurant jobs in addition to going to school.
Migrant children are crossing the border alone in record numbers. The Biden administration has ramped up pressure to release them to adults as quickly as possible.
In the rush, many children end up working some of the most punishing jobs in the country. https://t.co/a5WlU8CbSs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 26, 2023
Migrant children are routinely expected to work to pay their sponsors for bringing them into the U.S., and some are also sending money back to their families in their country of origin. The article stated that some of these children are working in factories for companies like General Mills and Whole Foods, as roofers or construction workers, and as dishwashers in restaurants. Some are even working 12 to 14-hour shifts on top of going to school. Some are never even enrolled in school, although it is required.
The Biden administration has been blamed for this situation due to their pressure on staffers to rush the children out of shelters and not properly vet their sponsors in their haste. How are these major corporations getting away with employing children? The Times found that staffing agencies that conduct hiring for production and distribution companies such as Hearthside Food Solutions are failing to verify the ages or identities of their workers, some of whom obtain false identification to work. Hearthside and General Mills both said they were looking into the claims made by the Times, and Hearthside said it would be implementing controls to prevent underage workers from working there in the future.
However, three workers for Hearthside told the Times that supervisors were told about what was happening. “Hearthside didn’t care,” former worker Nubia Malacara, who had been a minor at the time, said. The exploitation of these children is further evidenced by a Language Arts teacher in Miami who said her entire 8th grade English learner class was working after school, often for long hours while trying to learn English.
The Biden administration is claiming that they are being compassionate by allowing these migrant children into the country illegally, but what kind of life is it to be 12 or a teenager and working as much as most adults while going to school? These companies are taking advantage of children and violating child labor laws, and they are getting away with it because up the chain, nobody wants to admit what’s happening since it would make Biden look bad.
The exploitation of these migrant children is a travesty and an affront to human rights. It is up to us as citizens to hold our government accountable and ensure that these children are protected from exploitation and abuse. We must also hold corporations accountable for their actions and ensure that they are not taking advantage of vulnerable populations. It is only through collective action that we can put an end to this injustice.
Source: Conservative Institute
