(Hidden) in Plain Sight: Migrant Child Labor and The New Economy of Exploitation

Abstract

Migrant child labor pervades supply chains for America’s most beloved household goods including Cheerios, Cheetos, Lucky Charms, J. Crew, and Fruit of the Loom. Migrant children, some as young as twelve and thirteen, de-bone chicken sold at Whole Foods, bake rolls found at Walmart and Target, and process milk used in Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream. Most work grueling shifts, including overnight and over twelve-hour days, and some, working in extremely hazardous jobs such as roofing and meat processing, have died or suffered serious, permanent injuries. When their heartbreaking stories were revealed in an exposé by New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Drier, the nation was stunned. Since then, however, very little has changed. This is unsurprising given that responses to the crisis focus mainly on enhancing enforcement and increasing penalties under existing child labor laws. But these reforms will not help the migrant children at the heart of this crisis. Indeed, these so-called solutions threaten to make the situation worse for these children, many of whom are unaccompanied minors and have no choice but to work. Existing child labor laws and the historical premises underlying them cannot address the entrenched and overwhelming problem of contemporary, migrant child labor. Instead, a new legal framework is needed. This paper is the first to analyze the current crisis and argue that recommending effective solutions requires considering unaccompanied minors’ experiences as children, migrants and low-wage workers. Drawing from the theory of work primacy and international child labor literature, this paper charts a multifaceted course that might realistically address the predicament of migrant child workers who are precariously perched at the intersection of migration and labor.