Why do immigrant children work in dangerous jobs in the United States? | Child Rights

Thousands of immigrant children across the United States work long hours in harsh and often dangerous conditions in factories, farms, and mills.

The children are alone in the United States, and have usually 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.

And while they wait, they need ways to support themselves, and for many, they need to send money home to their families back home.

Night shifts and hazardous work violate many long-standing child labor laws. How does this happen? And what does that say about how immigrants are treated in the United States?

in sincere Special, host Marc Lamont Hill speaks to New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Dreyer, author of Alone and Exploited: Immigrant Children Working in Harsh Jobs Across the United States. and Mario Bruzon, senior policy advisor for the Refugee Women’s Committee’s Immigrant Rights and Justice Program.