(Hidden) in Plain Sight: Migrant Child Labor and The New Economy of Exploitation

Oppressive child labor in America is both an age-old problem and one that is relatively new. Part I presents the tumultuous history of child labor regulation in the United States—a history that provides clues as to why contemporary child labor laws fall far short of comprehensively addressing oppressive, migrant child labor. It then pivots to the contemporary child labor crisis by describing the new economy of exploitation and the unaccompanied migrant children upon which it relies. Part II sets forth the current U.S. legal landscape surrounding child labor laws, including these laws’ failure to protect migrant children. Next, Part II surveys the existing legal literature on the topic of child labor and evaluates the recommendations for reform set forth therein. It concludes that these proposals do not satisfactorily address the situation of migrant child workers, most of whom enter the United States alone in search of work, and in fact might worsen their predicament. Part III posits a new legal framework for understanding and analyzing migrant child labor that considers migrant children’s lived realities and utilizes the theory of work primacy from cultural sociology. It argues for centering migrant child workers’ experiences in order to make meaningful legal recommendations. This Part draws on international child labor scholarship as well as qualitative interviews of former migrant child workers. Part III then outlines a multi-pronged approach that might be used to holistically address the predicament of migrant children who cross into the United States for the express purpose of working and who have no choice but to work. This Article concludes by exhorting contemporary child labor reformers not to fall into the trap of earlier counterparts who pursued one-size-fits-all legislation to abolish child labor without considering the on-the-ground consequences these laws would have on the children they hoped to protect.