USA: As Migrant Children Were Put to Work, U.S. Ignored Warnings : NY Times / Sree Gururaja

Today, the NY Times continued its investigative reporting on the migrant child labour violations with some definitive news that the Federal agencies are ready to take action. Readers may recollect that we have been following this story by posting the updates. There were justifications made by some States to lower the age , with Arkansas leading the group and passing legislation superseding Federal laws. Finally, with the evidence piling up against employers who were willing to pay the fines for violation and yet blatantly employ children in night shifts the meat packing plants . For your convenience, the gist of the fairly comprehensive (lengthy) article is presented here together with the link to NY Times article.


"An investigation by The New York Times has revealed that the US ignored warnings about child labour after more than 250,000 migrant children arrived alone in the country in the past two years. The report states that thousands of children have ended up working in punishing jobs across the US, such as overnight in slaughterhouses or operating machinery in factories, all in violation of child labour laws.

 Even after reports were passed on to government officials, children were still released with little support to sponsors who expected them to take on grueling, dangerous jobs. Thousands of migrant children have been released by the U.S. government to live in abusive, exploitative or neglectful situations, with some working long hours in dangerous factory jobs. 

The problem is largely the result of the government’s failure to protect the children, rather than deliberate mistreatment, but human rights groups argue that the government has been aware of the issue for years and has failed to take appropriate action. The Department of Health and Human Services has acknowledged the risks that some migrant children face, but claims that its legal responsibility for them ends once they are released."

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