A bombshell report released by the New York Times exposed the rampant amount of migrant children in forced labor at manufacturing and production companies associated with major brands like Hearthside Food Solutions, Fruit of the Loom, Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, J.Crew, Frito-Lay, Ben & Jerry’s, General Motors, Ford, and more.

Required to work dangerous jobs and long shifts, migrant children forced into these situations are at higher risk for injury or death, and at least a dozen migrant children have died under these conditions since 2017.

These children, who were supposed to be released to sponsors committed to ensuring adequate care for them, were often exploited into doing this work. Some were forced to work the night shift and then attend class in the morning, some weren’t given the opportunity to go to school at all. And while the Department of Health and Human Services was supposed to keep track of these minors and their sponsors, the NYT exposé revealed that the agency lost contact with a third of migrant children.

This is child labor abuse in America.

The Biden administration responded quickly, announcing that the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take new actions to crack down on child labor and exploitation, and securing a commitment from HHS to improve the vetting of adults who sponsor migrant children out of government custody. While a step in the right direction, it’s simply not enough. Since taking office, the Biden administration has launched and implemented a number of policies that have hindered our asylum system.

An overwhelming number of unaccompanied children coming to the U.S. are fleeing persecution and violent and impoverished conditions. Without the stable legal protection of asylum, these children will be afraid to interact with law enforcement or public officials to report abuse, and that includes child labor violations.

The burden alone is not on the Biden administration. Congress must also act and make the process for asylum more attainable and to impose harsh penalties on companies that are taking advantage of the vulnerable conditions child migrants are in when they come to the U.S.

Immigrant children deserve safety, support, resources, protection, and the ability to go to school like every other child in this country. More can be done, on all fronts, to end the practice of abusing immigrant children in America.

Sign the petition: End child labor in America, expand asylum for unaccompanied migrant children.  

Participating Organizations
act.tv
Daily Kos
Democratic Values
Faithful America
Families for Freedom
Futures PAC
Justice in Motion
Justice For Our Neighbors El Paso
NorCal Resist
Solidarity Action