America’s heinous regression on child labor exploits vulnerable migrants

Current figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show today’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.4 percent. It’s good news — low unemployment is typically a leading indicator of a strong U.S. economy. 

But there’s a much darker side to a tight job market: Companies that can’t find (or afford) the people they need are hiring migrant children to fill the void. It’s not just illegal — it’s shameful and inexcusable. 

A recent New York Times investigation found migrant children are being employed by companies across the country — including factories hired by America’s largest corporations to produce some of the biggest brands in the world. 

It uncovered children packaging Cheerios at night, and working in hazardous conditions near huge ovens cooking Chewy and Nature Valley granola bars. It found others packing bags of Cheetos snacks and Lucky Charms cereal, stitching tags on J. Crew shirts that say “Made in America,” baking dinner rolls sold at Walmart and Target, and making auto parts used by Ford and General Motors.  

In all, the investigation identified 100 migrant child workers across 20 states. Given that 130,000 unaccompanied minors entered the United States last year alone, the number of children working for American companies is likely far greater — and the problem far worse — than what the New York Times exposed.  

It starts at the border, where an influx of migrant children has strained our nation’s ability to properly monitor them once they enter the country. The understaffed Office of Refugee Resettlement within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is unable to fulfill its mandate to ensure migrant youth are not exploited or trafficked once placed under the care of their American sponsors.  

These children are left to fend for themselves with no one to look after them. At the same time, the Biden administration has reportedly “pushed” HHS to release children from border shelters “as quickly as possible,” and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has “pressured” those inside the agency “to move with the speed of an assembly line.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and others sent a letter to Becerra and outgoing U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh urging action and demanding answers.  

The White House has apparently known about the growing issue of child migrant labor. HHS has even settled lawsuits with internal whistleblowers who have tried to call attention to it. These settlements should be a wake-up call for the Biden administration to lead and bring the full force of our government to stop the unlawful and inhumane hiring of migrant youth in America.  

Making matters worse, seven states have already passed or introduced bills that would lower child labor protections this year. Bills are being considered in Iowa and Minnesota, among other states. Days after the New York Times investigation broke, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a law removing a requirement mandating state verification of workers under the age of 16. Now, workers under 16 no longer need state permission to get a job. 

Such efforts reverse the clock on child labor protections. We need laws that protect those who are too young to speak up for themselves. We need laws that prevent unsupervised children with language barriers from being taken advantage of by predatory employers. We need laws that shield children from being subjected to dangerous or harsh working environments.  

Companies are hiring migrant children because the penalties they face (if caught) aren’t enough to deter them from doing it. It makes the practice worth taking the risk. We need to send a new message to American companies: Hiring children is wrong. It’s illegal. It’s immoral. And if you do it, you will face serious consequences. 

We also need a cohesive government response to address the problem. And these efforts need to have teeth. In the wake of the New York Times report, the White House outlined a series of actions, led by the Department of Labor, designed to step up enforcement of child labor laws. Only time will tell if they have an impact.  

But such initiatives are undermined when other U.S. agencies deliver empty messages to industry, such as the one U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent last week to meat and poultry companies requesting they look across their supply chains for evidence of child labor. The recipients of Vilsack’s letter surely must have been shaking in their shoes. 

The next person to lead the Department of Labor will have a golden opportunity to make child migrant labor one of their top priorities. As they should, because the very same agency has been aware of the growing problem, already acknowledging a “69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies” since 2018.  

Which begs the question — if we’ve been monitoring this issue since 2018, why did it take a 2023 New York Times story for America’s leaders to wake up and start doing something about it? 

Lyndon Haviland, DrPH, MPH, is a distinguished scholar at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy.