April 2023

The Exploitation of Children Coming Illegally to the United States

What did you think would happen when over 250,000 migrant children have come to the United States by themselves? Many had no relatives to go to in the United States.  They have ended up in punishing jobs across the country.  They have been found working overnight in slaughterhouses and operating machinery in factories.  They have been found working with industrial equipment or caustic chemicals.  They have been released to sponsors who expected them to take on grueling and dangerous jobs.  Because there have been so many people crossing the border the Ngo’s are not able to properly care for all of them especially the unaccompanied children.  The Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have passed along warnings about the situation at the border to the White House.  The reports were not flagged as urgent and did not make clear the scope of the problem. 

Legally, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for vetting sponsors to ensure they will provide for children’s well-being and protect them from trafficking or exploitation.  But as shelters filled with children (which will happen with an open border) HHS began loosening some vetting restrictions while urging case managers to speed the process.  The fact is that many migrant children are working, not going to school and may well be in danger for their lives.  HHS states that the agency’s legal responsibility for these children ends once they are released. The department is working to provide a few months of case management to all unaccompanied migrant children.