WashingtonWeeks after revelations that migrant children are regularly being exploited for cheap labor in the United States sparked bipartisan outrage and calls for action on Capitol Hill, but Congress has moved no closer to addressing the issue. problem, which has spiraled into a partisan war over immigration policy.
Legislation to crack down on corporate use of child labor has gone nowhere and currently enjoys little Republican support, while efforts by Democrats to increase funding for federal agencies to provide More support services for unaccompanied migrant children face a big chance of failure in Congress, where the Republican Party has vowed to cut agency budgets.
At that point, Republican proposals to institute stricter vetting of adults in households who sponsor migrant children and speed up the removal of unaccompanied minors have little chance of gaining ground in the Democratic-led Senate.
Instead, as Congress prepares to engage in a bitter debate over immigration policy in the coming days, Republicans and Democrats have retreated to their opposite corners, abandoning any initial hope they might have of addressing the issue of jobs. children in a bipartisan manner.
Republicans have pointed to sweatshop conditions at businesses that employ immigrant children, documented in a New York Times investigation, to justify a hardline immigration package. The New York Times reported in February that as the number of children crossing the southern border has skyrocketed to record levels, many have taken on dangerous jobs that violate labor laws, including in factories, slaughterhouses and construction sites.
The GOP legislation, due for a House vote this week, would restore a series of strict policies championed under the Trump administration, including measures to keep migrant children in detention centers and expedite their deportation.
Democrats, desperate to avoid any appearance of helping Republicans in their fight against Biden’s immigration policies, have muted their criticism of the government’s handling of the situation, directing their anger instead at companies that employ immigrant children.
The result is that the political space for any consensus in Congress on a political solution to help protect these children from exploitation is fading.
