With the Biden administration intensifying its enforcement of child-labor laws and its investigations of violators, companies won’t be able to hide behind staffing agencies or subcontractors anymore. Factories, suppliers, and even larger companies that employ children in their supply chains will finally be held accountable. Congress should pass the necessary legislation to aid the administration’s efforts.
If the administration wants to tackle this problem, it should focus its efforts on the border and not on going after American companies. Underage migrants are using a loophole in US immigration policy to get into this country, and of course, they need to make money to live and to send home. Closing this loophole and better securing the border would cut down on illegal child labor and benefit the economy as a whole.