Child labor investigation spreads to meatpacking, produce companies in 11 states

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

A federal investigation into Guatemalan children working in the U.S. in violation of child labor laws has expanded to include meatpacking and produce firms that have allegedly hired underage migrants in at least 11 states, two senior U.S. officials told NBC News. Investigators from the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Justice Department, as well as White House officials, are participating in the expanded inquiry, the officials said.

The meatpacking and produce companies under scrutiny for possible child labor violations operate across the country in locations from Virginia to Colorado, the sources said. The investigation is part of a broader push by Biden administration agencies, including the Labor Department, to crack down on child labor violations.

The Labor Department has documented a 69% increase in children employed in violation of child labor laws since 2018.Earlier this year, NBC News reported that according to two U.S. officials familiar with the investigation, DHS and the Justice Department were trying to determine whether a human smuggling scheme brought migrant children to work for multiple companies in the meatpacking sector nationwide. The officials said the companies themselves were not targets of the investigation.

The investigators would not name any of the companies currently under investigation. Penalties could range from civil fines to criminal charges, the officials said, but no charges have been filed.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-child-labor-investigation-11-states-meatpacking-produce-rcna88156

[Bristlecone]

1. Some would call that a pattern of abuse

[Lunabell]

2. And how many of these owners/ceos are registered registered rethuglicans?

Probably at least 90%. Just my opinion, I don't actually know. But, I do know that most business leaders are rethuglicans. Between 60-70% according to what I've read.

Fucking hypocrites.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Lock those greedy mo____fu____s up.

Given what the price of meat is these days someone is already making a ton of money. They don't need to exploit children.

[justgamma]

4. So that's why the pukes

want to lower the child labor laws now. I'll bet the 11 states are the ones pushing to put children into the meatpacking plants and the mines.

[Evolve Dammit]

5. Disgusting. Jobs nobody wants, but lets put migrant children in there. Owners need some jail time.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[slightlv]

7. The companies, themselves, are not targets?

So who are the targets? The owners? The hiring managers?

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I think I recall reading in earlier news stories

when they caught companies using minors, that the companies were using individual contract firms to supply workers to do certain work functions like cleaning.

[moniss]

9. They do that for purposes of deniability

and the same is true in field work.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Yup.

Exactly.

[sybylla]

13. Precisely. They hire through contractors to achieve plausible deniability

and avoid any of the legal obligations for employing minors.

The only good thing to come out of this is that the victims of labor trafficking, as witnesses to crime, are granted special visas, sometimes even permanent residency if they want it and are allowed to bring their entire family here (on the same visa/permanent resident program) while they are waiting for the trials to work themselves out.

All of the horrible people who do this to children as well as adults need to go down asap.

[moniss]

10. One hell of a job of writing

an article by those NBC people. They say 11 states in the headline and then in the entire article they only mention two. Maybe the next news item from them will be about a horrible robbery at a store but they won't give the address or city.

I am editing my post to note that if you happen to watch the video on the side-bar they do put up a map of the states part way in. It still should have been at least a line or two in a written article of several paragraphs. Hope springs eternal. So they got me to click.

[PurgedVoter]

11. I suspect the that same corporate majority owners are involved

There is a point where the deeds of the corporation need to be linked to the controlling owners of the corporation.

[Bluethroughu]

14. This why the GOP wants to legalize child labor.

[JT45242]

15. Sort of criminal enterprise that RICO should cover, but won't

The fines will be absorbed as the cost of doing business. They probably factored the fines into a cost/benefits formula which sure seems to go towards a criminal enterprise.