Why are migrant children working dangerous jobs in the US?
It is an ‘open secret’ that many children who cross the border into the US alone end up working, experts say.
Thousands of migrant children across the United States are working long hours in gruelling, often dangerous, conditions in factories, farms and mills.
The children are alone in the US, typically having fled their countries, crossing the southern border without their parents. Many are seeking asylum and other protections under US and international law – a process that can take years and cost thousands of dollars.
As they wait, they are in need of ways to support themselves and, for many, to send money to their families back home.
Overnight shifts and dangerous work violate multiple longstanding child labour laws. So how is this happening? And what does it say about how migrants are treated in the US?
In an UpFront special, host Marc Lamont Hill speaks to New York Times investigative reporter, Hannah Dreier, author of the expose: Alone and Exploited: Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the US; and Mario Bruzzone, senior policy adviser with the Women’s Refugee Commission’s Migrant Rights and Justice programme.