Ranking Member Cassidy Slams Biden Administration’s Failure to Address Rising Child Labor Exploitation, Demands Answers

Press Release

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“It’s alarming that, while these children worked in unsafe conditions, the Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal agencies either missed or ignored signs of their exploitation until it was far too late. These injuries, and all other mental, emotional, and physical harms caused to children because of unconscionable working conditions are unacceptable. So too is DOL’s lack of response.

This years-long increase in unaccompanied migrant children crossing the southern border under the Biden administration, and the negative incentive for these children to expose themselves to dangerous working conditions is an intolerable tragedy for which we must find an immediate and lasting solution. It is clear that the enforcement actions taken so far against violators have not slowed this upward trend in exploitative child labor.

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ORR is responsible for protecting children from ‘smugglers, traffickers, or others who might seek to victimize or otherwise engage the child in criminal, harmful or exploitative activity,’ which includes working dangerous jobs in exploitative conditions. These recent reports, however, expose the Biden administration’s failure to reform ORR’s sponsor vetting and child placement procedures and its inability to coordinate with other federal agencies to protect unaccompanied children.”

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