In the past two years, more than 250,000 children have come into the country alone. Many of them are under tremendous pressure to send money back to their parents, as well as pay thousands of dollars in smuggling fees and, in some cases, rent and living expenses to their sponsors. Most are from Central America, where economic conditions have deteriorated since the pandemic.
Children now are working hazardous jobs in every state and across industries, The Times found. They are taking jobs in slaughterhouses, construction sites and commercial bakeries — positions that have long been off-limits to American children for nearly a century.
At least a dozen underage migrant workers have been killed on the job since 2017, including a 16-year-old who fell from and was crushed by an earthmover he was driving in Georgia. Others have been seriously injured, losing legs and shattering their backs in falls.
In a speech on the House floor Monday, Representative Hillary Scholten, Democrat of Michigan, called on Congress to act.
“Stories of kids dropping out of school, collapsing from exhaustion, and even losing limbs to machinery are what one expects to find in a Charles Dickens or Upton Sinclair novel, but not an account of everyday life in 2023, not in the United States of America,” Ms. Scholten said.
A spokesman for Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, “cut corners on vetting procedures to prioritize the expedited release of minors, and as a result more migrant children are being handed off to traffickers and exploited.”
Republicans on Capitol Hill immediately began launching investigations and discussing legislation, including plans to demand the Department of Health and Human Services to track and provide better care for children after they are released to sponsors. Democrats are also considering new measures.
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