Democrats call for increased enforcement of child labor laws

Washington — U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, led a group of 61 Democratic members of Congress in calling Monday for the Biden administration to take more aggressive action against child labor in the United States.

The letter comes around two weeks after the New York Times published an investigation showing widespread employment of child migrant workers in factory jobs around the country, including in Michigan.

The lawmakers said they “appreciate” the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services’ initial actions, including creating a task force to investigate child labor violations and abuses of migrant children.

But they added they “are frustrated by the lack of timely action.” The group asked the Labor Department to prevent the shipment of goods made using child labor to prevent companies from profiting from products made by children, and demanded more proactive enforcement of existing labor laws, including pursuing fines and criminal action against companies found to employ children.

The group also urged HHS to quickly follow up with migrant children who report mistreatment and expand legal and social services for children who are released from their custody.

“Our children are our future, and we must be doing everything we can to protect them,” the lawmakers wrote. Migrant children working for auto, food processing and textile companies “is unacceptable and must end immediately. Children should be in school, not working in dangerous factory jobs.”

The legislators added that they are committed to passing legislation to increase penalties for violating child labor laws, which DOL called for in the wake of the investigation. The existing fine of $15,138 is “not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies,” the agency said.

Michigan U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids; Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor; Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, also signed the letter.