Demián Bichir Instagram – • @nytimes Migrant children, who have been coming into the U.S. without their parents in record numbers, are working some of the most punishing jobs in the country, a New York Times investigation has found. This shadow workforce is part of a new economy of exploitation that extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century.
The Times spoke with more than 100 migrant child workers who described jobs that were grinding them into exhaustion and who feared they had become trapped in circumstances they never could have imagined. Its examination also drew on court and inspection records and interviews with hundreds of lawyers, social workers, educators and law enforcement officials.
Largely from Central America, the children are driven by economic desperation that was worsened by the pandemic. The number of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. climbed to a high of 130,000 last year — three times what it was five years earlier — and this summer is expected to bring another wave.
Far from home, many of these children are under intense pressure to earn money. They send cash back to their families while often being in debt to their sponsors for smuggling fees, rent and living expenses.
Tap the link in @nytimes bio to read more from the Times investigation. Photos by @kirstenluce | Posted on 27/Feb/2023 01:35:05
