The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Why Are States Loosening Child Labor Laws? I Beyond the Scenes

Episode Date: July 30, 2023

Recorded on April 26, 2023. Child labor violations are on the rise, while some states are trying to loosen child labor laws. Host Roy Wood Jr. sits down with investigative reporter for the New York Times, Hannah Dreier, and the Chief Programs Officer for Justice for Migrant Women, Norma Flores López, to discuss why the number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States has climbed since the pandemic, the types of unsafe working conditions these kids face, how the Department of Health and Human Services has failed to place them in safe environments, and what impact this has on children’s education, health, and overall sense of worth. Norma also recounts her time working in the fields as early as 9 years old.Original air date: May 9, 2023Beyond the Scenes is a podcast from The Daily Show. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts, or watch at YouTube.com/TheDaily ShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're gonna be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, what's up? Welcome to Beyond the Scenes. The podcast that goes deeper into topics and discussions that we've had on the Daily Show. I'm your host Roywood Jr. This is what this podcast is like.

I have to explain this every week because we always got new people, you know, checking in on this podcast. This podcast like, okay, so the Daily Show is waffles, right? This podcast is the whipped cream and the strawberries and the butter and the syrup and the bacon and all that extra stuff you pile onto it to make it really delicious. And the truth is, it's not even breakfast. It's technically dessert. Why is there ice cream on my breakfast plate?

Okay, I feel like I went a little too deep right there. Today, we are talking about the issue of child labor and the rise of child labor violations and how some states are actually trying to loosen those laws. Give it a clip. Some state legislatures looking to fill a needed in the labor market are considering child workers as a solution. Lawmakers in Iowa and Minnesota introduced bills last month to loosen labor regulations around age and workplace safety. Minnesota's bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to work construction jobs. And the Iowa measure aims to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work certain positions in the mining, meat packing and logging industries. The Iowa proposal would also shield businesses from civil liability if a youth worker gets sick, injured, or

killed on the job. We're doing great everybody. They're going to let 14 year to work in mining, logging, and meat packing. Those are like the three most dangerous jobs. What they didn packing. Those are like the three most dangerous jobs. They didn't have any openings in the Ukrainian army. No. And I'm sure this will surprise you. But the lawmakers sponsoring these bills call themselves pro-life. Of course they are.

If women aren't forced to have babies, who's going to pack this topic, we are joined by a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter at the New York Times. She broke the story about migrant child labor across the United States. Hannah Dreyer, welcome to Beyond the Scenes. How do you do? Happy to be here. Well, I'm happy that you're here to talk about this thrilling and light topic. I think we'll get through it just fine. Also joining us as the Chief Programs Officer for Justice for Migrant Women,

the domestic chair of the Child Labor Coalition and a former child farm worker. Norma, Norma, Flores Lopez, welcome to the show, Norma. Hi, thank you for having me. Happy to be the sprinkles on your breakfast waffle. Well, thank thank thank thank thank thank thank thank thank th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, the, thi, th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the thi. thi. thi. toooooo. too. too. too. too. too. the the the the too. the the the, that's what I'm talking about. That's what we need. Positivity, because this is a serious topic. Hannah, I'd like to start with you, though.

You spoke with, what was it, about 100 child migrant workers across 20 states. How did they end up in the situations that you saw them in, so we're basically seeing an unprecedented rise in children crossing the border without their parents right now. We've seen almost 300,000 of these kids come across just in the past year, two years, and when a child crosses the border alone, what happens is they go to a shelter run by the government and then workers in that shelter try to figure out, well, where can this kid go? And they eventually end up usually with a cousin, an uncle,

maybe somebody from their village. They're released to these adults who are supposed to take care of them and send them to school. And what I found is that in the majority of cases, these kids are actually being put to work. So they're working overnight shifts at slaughterhouses. They're working in these really industrial settings and, you know, factories making Cheerios. And we're seeing this in a way that we really haven't seen, you know, maybe it's for a hundred

years. This is something that was going on in the 1930s and was banned by a child labor laws and is not supposed to be happening. What were some of the first-hand things that you saw, you know, with the children and what they were dealing with in those actual working conditions. So we know how they got here, we know how they kind of get dispersed out into these places. What is some of the work that you've seen them get into? It's really dangerous work. And like you say, I talked to more than a hundred kids who are currently under age and currently working in jobs that they should never be in, like the most dangerous kind of work. I talked to a boy in Florida who came over when he was

12 a year or two ago and he was released to somebody who had been a neighbor, and the very next day he was put to work in roofing. So I hung out with him on the top of a three-story building. He was putting up the roof and he was sort of teetering on the edge. He'd already fallen twice doing this work. He told me that he really wanted to go to school to learn to read, but there was just no way because he had to pay to pay rent, he had to pay off a debt to this man who th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to the to to to to the the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, toe. toe. toe. Hea. Hea toe. Hea teateateateateateatea tea toeateateatea toeateateateatr. toeateateateateateate. toe. I talked to a 14-year-old who got his arm mangled working overnight at a poultry plant and this was a kid who came when he was 14 he got this job and one night you know his arm got caught in the machinery and he just got pulled through the factory and he told me that he was in the hospital for three days and nobody came to visit him because they're just very, very very on their own. Norm. and he. and he. and he. th. th. th. th. th. Nor. Nor, and he th. Nor, and he th. N. N. N. N. N. N. N. N. N. Ne, thi, thi, to to to to to to told told told told told told told told told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told told told, told, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. I to the, to the, the, the, their their their the. I the the the. the the. the. the. thee. theee. the. the. the. th days and nobody came to visit him because they're just very, very on their own.

Norma, walk us through your journey in becoming a farm worker as a child. Like what, how many of those eyes and teas of yours did Hannah cross in her own journey? Was your journey into that path a little different? Well, I think what we first need to talk about is this term migrant. The folks that Hannah had spoken to were children that had crossed international borders. I grew up in South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. This is somewhere where I was born in the United States. My parents were also U.S. born, but we were born into a migrant family and that we would still travel th, to to to to the migrant to the migrant the migrant to to the migrant the migrant, the migrant, the migrant, the migrant, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, to be born, toe, toe, toe, toe, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, to work to work to be the the the the the the the the the the the the the the too, the the the the the the the the too, the the the the too, the the too, too,that we would still travel across the US following the harvest in order for my parents to be able to work.

That was something that I grew up my entire life and didn't know any different. It wasn't something that was introduced to later in my life, but rather part of our everyday life of having to pick up all of our belongings, back in the back of a pickup truck, drive up two days to go up to the northern states like Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, and work in agriculture out there. So while there's that distinction about how I started, and that's the same way my parents started working in the fields, there are some themes of what sort of runs across.

And what you'll notice is that with migrant families, with migrant children, you don't have the support network. You're living in rural communities where you're isolated, where there's language barriers. And the one thing that sort of ties us all together is the desperate poverty that pushes us to be out there in the field. I was working alongside my parents, something that was perfectly legal for me to do in the United States where I was born.

At what age, may I ask? Yeah, I started working, probably my earliest memories were around nine years old. I say that because what you'll notice is that a lot of people that start working in agriculture, they start with play. When you're working in peace rate, you're, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, their, thiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, their, their, their, their, th agriculture, they start with play. When you're working in peace rate, you're encouraged to have as many hands as possible to be able to fill up buckets. And then my dad, who was the primary name on our, on the, I guess the paycheck,

he would then be paid for all of our work and how much we all harvested. So it was easy to sort of sneak in there. It started off with who would would their their work work work work work work work work work work work work work work w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo, to work work work work work w work w work work work work work work wo, to to to to to start to to start to start to to to to to to to to to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that that that that that that that that that work that work, that that that work, that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's to sort of sneak in there. It started off with who would fill up the bucket the fastest. My parents didn't have somebody to watch us around their work schedule in those rural areas that they could be able to afford to. So they took us with them, what they thought was the safest option. And then once I turned 12 years old, I started working full time. Full time was 8 to 5 hour hour, 8, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, For me it was 10, 12 hour days, seven days a week, sometimes three, four, a week straight without any days off, working in one of the most dangerous industries, which is agriculture, doing backbreaking work and having to keep up with the rest of the adults. And your family, then, what did playtime look like for you as a child?

Just if there was an off day, what does a child who is working 40 hours, excuse me, 50 hour weeks? Smelling like... More like 70? More like 70, 80 hour work weeks. At the age of 12 having to do that type of work. I mean, like with any kid, you're going to give them chores or tasks and you're going to make the best of it. So we would race each other. We would play pranks on each other.

We would sing songs, we would have long conversations and pretend time, but it was all while having to harvest fruits and vegetables and vegetables and under a hot tho th............... the the the the the the th. the th. And the the the th. And the the th. And th. And the the th. And the. And, thoom. And, thoombea, to be to be the, the to be, to be, to be, to be, together, together, together, together, together, thae, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the the th... and, the the the the the th. and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, thean, thoooooooooooooomorrow, and, toge, toge, toguu and, togu and, the, and, and, the, and vegetables and under a hot sun. It was just part of our way of life and you just make the best and created the best memories you could with what you were given. How has our government failed to protect children from this type of abuse? Let's just call it what it is. I'm not even sure if I like the word child labor as much as abuse, but what are some of the ways, Hannah that our government has failed, you know, you know, the the the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the the best, and the the the the the the the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best the best the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, and the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best, and the best, and the best, and the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, the best, th thi thi thi theau theau theau thea' thea' thi thi that, the best the best, the best, the best, the I like the word child labor as much as abuse, but what are some of the ways, Hannah, that our government has failed, you know, when we talk about the Department of Health and Human Services specifically and what they have and haven't done? Yeah, I mean it's really sort of a cascading failure. Like you don't get this kind of shadow labor force without a lot of system breakdowns. And with health and human services, this is the agency that is responsible for migrant children.

These kids, they're here with sort of a complicated legal status. They're not here illegally, but they also don't have a visa. And so in this sort of gray area, health and human services is supposed to step up and make sure that they're not trafficked or exploited. But what happens is they get released from these shelters and then there's no follow-up. So it's not like the foster care system where you're placed in a home, but a social worker's going to see that home and get a check on you. These kids get released and then for the majority of them, nobody ever comes to see how they're doing. Nobody even really calls to see how they're doing.

And that's something that might now change. There's a lot of pressure to at least give these kids a couple months of social workers, a couple months of maybe legal services. But for now, there's just sort of no one looking out for them once they're out in this country living with, in a lot of cases, a stranger. Why isn't HHS properly investigating what's happening with these children? To understand what went wrong, we have to go back to 2021 when a record number of these children started crossing the border.

We're talking about hundreds of thousands of kids in the last two years. And so many kids were crossing that they ran out of kids in the last two years. And so many kids were crossing that they ran out of room at the Health and Human Services shelters, and the kids started backing up in customs and border protection jails. So you might remember, there was wall-to-wallage of these kids sleeping on the floor, sleeping under those aluminum blankets.

Right, right. It was like the beginning of the Biden administration and all of a sudden we saw kids in cages again. And so there was huge pressure to get these kids released to sponsors more quickly. And Javier Vissera, the secretary of HHS, started telling staff members this is no way to run an assembly line. If Henry Ford had run his factories like this, he would never have been rich and famous. He was berating them every day. to to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their kids their kids their kids their kids their kids kids kids their kids their kids to get their kids to get an assembly line. If Henry Ford had run his factories like this, he would never have been rich and famous. He was berating them every day to get these kids released more quickly. And what you saw was a lot of these kids got released to people who never should have been able to take them in because they turned right around and put them to work. So the bureaucracy was, let's just make it somebody, so it's an envy. It's just I don't, I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I they's just I don't the they's just I don't the their. I don't their. I don't their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. t. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. their.'s just make it somebody, so it's an envy. It's just I don't want these kids here, so let me hot potato them off to somebody else.

And then it looks like I've done my job. There was huge pressure to address this really visible crisis at the border with the kids sleeping on the floor. And this other crisis of child labor is basically invisible. There's never going to be, you know, news footage of the kids working the overnight shift in the factory. All of that is happening behind closed doors. So then if there's nobody doing the follow-ups, then normal, then there has to be laws. This is the country.

There's laws. I worked, I've worked, I'd worked to walk y'all through my childhood experience. I worked, I'd worked at Birmingham, Alabama at the subway on 20th Street, South Pickwick Subway. It's gone now, I think it's a nightclub. But, you were only supposed to work 20 hours a week. You couldn't work past 9 p.m. on a school night. You couldn't work past 10 p.m. Blah blah, blah, blah. Even I was sneaking and working 42 hours. When my father passed my senior year of high school and to help my mom keep the house after he died because we lost his half of the income, I was working 40 hours a week in high school. So as a child who wanted to break

the rules and nobody was enforcing it. So if someone wanted to force children into working even more and you're saying Hannah there's nobody checking up on them well then what the what laws are in place Norma that should have even been keeping this from happening to begin with? In the fields we know that the laws are only as good as they are enforced and so if they weren't enforced in an urban subway even less laws are enforced out in the fields and that's part of the issue of why there's so much exploitation that happens for migrant workers as a whole, especially women, especially children and young girls that are vulnerable to the dangerous industry, but then there's also the workplace harassment, there's

the pesticides that are used, there's all kinds of issues that happen. And for folks that are undocumented, it makes them even more vulnerable. I didn't have that particular issue, as I mentioned, but I wasn't protected from a lot of the other issues. And so when you have laws that are already in place that are inadequate, and those aren't being actually followed through, where people like you could make the choice to just work more hours. It just shows you how they're failing to protect even those that there are sometimes you run into bad players, people that do want to put profits over the livelihood over the well-being of the people that they're employing, and there's really nothing to be able to protect them. And even then, these particular laws that we're talking about that are that are that are supposed tha, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.ea, thea, theatsuuuiologuiuia, theuia, thea, their, their, their, their them. And even then, these particular laws that we're talking about that are supposed to protect

workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act, those are the ones that were left already back in the 1930s, which we know where our country was and how it felt about people that looked like me, people that were brown, people that were black. Are you saying America has a history of racism, Norma. I absolutely am saying that. And so were many of the politicians back in those days that were very blatant about it and said, this is why we're setting up the system as it is. And they left out farm workers from a lot of these protections

from the right to unionize, from overtime pay, and from the protections of child labor laws. So you already have inadequate laws that were set up in the 1930s that have not been updated and do not keep up with today's standards. We have an industry that has been using more and more chemicals and heavier machinery and much more dangerous for children to be at the deadliest industry, to work in. And then you have nobody keeping an eye on this and places like the Department of Labor making the cuts to the budgets for those that are supposed to be tasked with enforcing and even

when the enforcement happened which growers it's no secret that they know that the chance of them getting caught are little to none a lot of the times those fines aren't being collected all to together. So as you could see it's a failure for even kids like me to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, the thi, thi, the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thr-in, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, the, thrown, tho. their, their, their, their, their, their, their in the U.S. working alongside her parents, we're still not getting protected and don't really have a lot of recourse. Right, if I could add to something Norma said, absolutely. I mean, you were working in a subway. That's a job where children should be allowed to work at a certain point, maybe not the hours that you were working. I was working at two in the morning on Friday nights in the bar district at 16 years old. That's not allowed.

But a lot of these kids that I was talking to want to work at places like restaurants or grocery stores. Like they told me they wished they could get a job doing fast food. But they can't unless they have a work permit. And so that goes back to this idea of services for these kids. If these kids had lawyers, they could easily apply for a work to work their to work to work to to to their to apply to apply to apply to apply to apply to apply to their their their work to apply to their work to their work their work their work their work their work their work their work their work work work work work work work work their work to this idea of services for these kids. If these kids had the lawyers, they could easily apply for a work permit and at least not work, you know, the graveyard shift at the chicken plant. But because they don't have that piece of paper,

they sort of get relegated to the most dangerous jobs that nobody will take. And so I also want to point Hannah is talking about and what you pointed out to Roy and what I had also is the driver for me to work those hours that we knew were beyond what was good for us was because we needed money and that's really what's driving these children both those that are crossing international borders or myself it's the need for money that we're willing to put ourselves in known dangers and there are not laws or safeguards that are protecting us from that or any other solutions addressing the very drivers of these issues.

But with the federal labor law protections, how do we get, how do we close those loopholes? Because I'm assuming that there ain't no health care in any of this. I'm assuming there's no overtime. You're doing 70 hours. You're not getting time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time the time the time the time the time the time the time their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the time. any of this. I'm assuming there's no overtime. You're doing 70 hours. You're not getting time and a half for picking asparagus. I would assume that, right? No. Okay, so then how do we close those loopholes?

Those are the responsibility of our elected officials and this administration. There are steps they can take. They can update them. We have the data to to to to to to to to the data to to the data to the data to the data to to the data to the data to show the data to show the data to show to show to show to show the data the data the data the data the data the data the data to show to to the data to show to show to to their to their their their their their their their their toeours. You you you. You you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data the data to show to show to show theateateateateateateateateateateateateateateateateateck.au. their toeck.au. toe. their toe. the steps they can take. There are laws that they can change. They can update them. We have the data to show that these are dangerous jobs for children that can cost them even their lives and affecting their school, affecting their health. And nobody is doing anything because it hasn't been that big of an issue. Thanks to Hannah's story, we've been able to start talking about child labor in America, but for the longest time it's been our dirty little secret.

We're putting millions of dollars to address this around the world, but we're not doing anything to protect the children that are here in the U.S. in our own backyards. After the break, I want to get into it with you ladies about the the world of the work and how it affects the children on the day-to-day when they're in those environments and not just the physical harm that they face on the job but what other dangers might even be you know around them while they're doing this type of work. This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Beyond the Scenes. We're talking child labor in the United States and why

it's so rampant, why it's legal and what things we could do to stop this. Now before we get into the actual emotional fallout and the ripple effects of this and the psyche of the children that do this work, here's a broader question. You know, we talked a little bit in the previous break about loopholes that exist in some of these the th th th th the th th the th th th th th th th th th the th th th th th th th th th th th th th ththat do this work. Here's a broader question. You know, we talked a little bit in the previous break about loopholes that exist in some of these laws that don't protect foreign workers or children. Hannah, why the hell hasn't this administration done anything to stop this shit? Respectfully. I have the same question. So we ran a story about migrant child labor in this country on February 25th. On February 27th, the Biden administration announced a huge raft of reforms that they said we're going to

targe this problem. They said they'd never heard about this before. They were completely shocked and now they were going to step up and start trying to help these kids. And so I was wondering, well, how could that really be? I mean, if I found these kids working in every state in this country, the Biden administration didn't know a thing? And reporting this out, it turns out, they were being warned about this almost since day one. There were memos that went up.

There were reports about clusters of children working overnight shifts in poultry plants and auto factories that made it all the way to the desk of, you know, Susan Rice, Biden's top immigration advisor. And what they say is, oh yeah, there was evidence here and there, but we didn't put the pieces together. To me, it's been really surprising that the administration's line is, well, we just never knew. Wouldn't it be better to just go, yeah, we need them kids, capitalism. Like, I would respect that more than go, hum, I didn't know them, huh?

I mean, now you're getting into what some of these states are doing. But yeah, they're whistleblowers who say, we tried to warn the Biden administration, they've shown me their, I, I, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, their, their, their, thii, their, and, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and the.e.e.e. there. there, there, thereea, thereea, thereea, thereea, th th th th th th theeeeee. th th thee. thee. thereea, thereea, their, thereeblowers who say, we tried to warn the Biden administration. They've shown me their memos, they've shown me their emails, and they're saying clearly, we're really worried. This is really serious. And nothing happened until, you know, two months ago. Norma, if you can, tell me a little bit about some of the other children that you met on these, on these jobs that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were that you were working as a child and their journey from then till now. What were some of the psychological effects then versus more chronically from people doing that work? Because if you're not getting a good education, are you dealing with a sense of a lack of self-worth

when you get older from not having that type of education. Also, was there any type of abuse happening in the actual act of working 70 hours as abuse? But in addition to that, talk to me a little bit about the conditions and the psyche of child workers and also how those things kind of, I guess, infect one's matriculation into adulthood. Well, I saw the prime example with my parents. As I mentioned, both of my mom and my dad were US-born. But my father had to get out of school at sixth grade, my mother in the second grade.

And because their family was living in such desperate poverty, they just spent the rest of their lives working in the fields in rural communities, just sort of flying under the radar without anybody so much is questioning why they weren't in school. We knew the answer, the same way that Biden administration knows the answer. It's because there are families that are living in that level of poverty. And so that was what condemned my parents to have to work for the rest of their lives in the fields because they didn't know, they didn't get their education, they didn't have the English language skills, they didn't have anybody looking after them and their families needed to eat. And that's the great irony in this country is that the very people that are tasked with preparing and planting and growing and harvesting our fruits and vegetables, I can't th.imes afford those same berry fruits and vegetables that they pick for everybody else.

And so I saw that through my parents, my father, made us aware of the sacrifices they had to make because they didn't have an education, and made it a point to make sure that me and my sisters, even though we spent our years working in the fields from when we were 12 years old all the way until we graduated from high school, pointed out that this was gonna be our future. Even at 16 years old, I had already had moments run-ins with crew leaders,

which are infamous for being very tough, very hard on folks and driving the profits for the farmers. I had a crew leader that on a daily basis would curse me out, would tell me that I was worthless, would tell me that if I couldn't even do farm work, what was I good for and I was going to amount to nothing. And this was on a daily basis to a 16-year-old child. But I knew that my parents needed this job, they got paid a little bit better than the other ones. At least in this job, they provided this housing that was in chicken coops that had the bathrooms closer by versus the previous place we worked at that had the shower in the basement and outhouses

that we had to use even though we were already in the 2000s. And so I knew it was a better place for my family and that was something that I sort of swallowed my pride and just took the beatings on a daily basis. That same crew leader, an exact same day, would run into his white colleagues and the white teenagers that were working from the local community and would be all smiles and sunshines and super helpful, but with me would just completely turn around into a totally different person. So these are the types of situations that I would see in front of me about how it was such a different reality for me versus other white kids that grew up on their dad's farm or on their neighbors farm and got to do it as a part-time job or as a vocational training or sort of, you know, just to earn a little bit of extra cash. Mine was for survival. And so I had to deal with a lot of that. And luckily, I didn't have to deal with the sexual assaults or harassment that many women do, but I did see it around me, where women are asked to do their farown, where women are asked to do that, so that their families can get paid the money that they're owed. And there isn't a whole lot of enforcement, a whole lot of information, where a lot of these women and girls think that's just the way of business up here in the U.S., where they have to do that in order to be able to get paid.

And so you see a lot of these abuses happening in the workplace that are well known, well documented and nobody moving for policies. And for those kids that are trying to make their way out and climb out, it's really hard in school when you're having th... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And th, th, th, th, th. And, th, th, thi, thi. And, thi. And, thi, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be their, their, their, their their their their, to be to be to be a to be a to be a to be a to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be their way out and climb out. It's really hard in school when you're having to go to two, three different schools every year, a first day over and over again, where you're not able to participate in a lot of the recreational activities, a lot of fun time, you don't get a summer or a spring break. Those are times that are spent working in the fields. I never learned how to play to their their their their to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to play their to play to play their to play the off every single day in school to make sure I didn't end up

and having to perpetuate the cycle. Like many of my other friends, family members that did, who dropped out and having to be pulled constantly, always being behind in school, you could see why they drop out at four times a national average for farm worker youth. And so so many of my friends and family members ended up back in the fields. That's where their children are children their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the national average for farm worker youth. And so so many of my friends and family members ended up back in the fields. That's where their children are growing up in the fields and we just continue to see the cycle of poverty and exploitation, just continuing generation after generation. So we know all of that to be true.

Why are states trying to loosen child labor laws? Like, why do more, oh, that sounds great. More of that, please. But also, by the way, no drag queens in school and don't learn about black history because that could poison your mind. I get your ass out there in that field. Why are some of the states, Hannah,

why are they trying to loosen the child labor laws? Yeah, I mean, it's unbelievable. So we're seeing, sort of out of nowhere, a raft of states pushing back child labor laws. And they're making it legal for kids to do things like work overnight at 14, work with an assembly line at 15 years old. And part of this goes back to the labor shortage. I mean this is what's pushing the migrant child crisis as well. It's sort of two things at once. More children are coming over without their parents but also these companies suddenly really need somebody working these shifts that

nobody wants. Is it a labor shortage or wage shortage? Yeah good question. I think what we can safely say is there's a lot of jobs right now that pay badly, have bad working conditions, you know, their overnight shifts usually, and people don't want to take those jobs. They've found that they can do other jobs that pay more. And so employers are scrambling and many of them have said to me, you know, we went to that staffing agency that brought in all those children because we couldn't find anybody to do this shift. And so states are sort of trying to

codify this right now and just say well yeah why not let the 14-year-old come and do that overnight shift, you know, legally. It's really shocking. How do they defend, in your, in your views, how are, th, th, th, the the their, their, their, their, their, th, th, th, th, tholet, tholet, tholet, thi, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, thiolet, thiolet, thi, thiolioli, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to thi to to to to to to thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to thi, toe toe toe toe thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooe, the,. How do they defend, in your, in your views, how are politicians defending it? Is this the type of policy that politicians are trying to publicize? Because it feels like one of those policies that they're kind of slugging under their breath. Because like, CRT, it's, hey, we got to stop it. Hey, y'all, look at what they're teaching your children in the schools. But with child labor, say, yeah, by the way, your kid can work till two in the morning in the auto factory instead, got to go to school in the morning.

So why aren't they as vocal about this thiolk as they are all of these other lightning-a' other other other other other other other a lot of them to this one billionaire backed group out of Florida, which is where a lot of things seem to come from these days. That's going around different states and pushing this legislation. Make of that what you will. But this is what happens when you live in a country that puts profits over people. You're seeing this sort of rollback, not just in the child labor laws, but pretty much in any workplace protections and safeguards. You have people that are pushing back on any sort of restrictions because they blame businesses not being able to do the work that

they need to do because of said protections and restrictions. But what we see every day is that they are absolutely necessary to keep people safe. What you're not hearing from advocates is, you know, all children should be banned from every place. What we're saying is children need to be in places that are safe, at safe hours doing tasks that are safe that are not going to cost them their lives. But instead, what you have is people turning a blind eye while these children are sacrificing their health, their education, their well-being, their childhoods.

They're not having any of that. And at the end of the day, what's at the root of it is the people needing to put people over profits and that's not what we're seeing right now. Are people buying into the spin on this? Like if we're talking about this billionaire, you're thAC or whatever type group it is down there. There's some people that are putting a spin on this and going, oh, well, you're 14, but this is an apprenticeship, and then you'll get the real job when you're 18, and you're learning a trade, you're learning responsibilities and values and apprenticeship.

Does that fly or is that bullshit propaganda? You know, that's exactly what a lot of these sponsors have told me when I've asked them why they have four children in their home and all of them are working full-time and not going to school. They come with that same sort of rhetoric of like, well, explain the sponsorship first before we even get into the spin. Sure. Walk us through that. So, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi. thi. thi. thi. that's th. th. that's th. th. th. that's th. that's th. th. th. that's th. th. th. that's th. that's thi. that's that's thi. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thate that's thateeeea. that's that's that's that's that's that's that that that that that that, that, explain, explain the sponsorship first before we even get to the spin. Sure. Walk us through that. So when a child crosses the border alone, they go to the Health and Human Services shelter system and then Health and Human Services releases them to somebody who is

promised to be a responsible adult. And often what I'm finding is this is going to be somebody who a child has maybe met on Facebook, maybe they sort of know them as a family friend, somebody who has told the child, hey, you can come up here and live with me and your life is going to be great and you're going to live the American dream. And so the child comes and they get released to this person. And then they find out, actually, they have to work work their their. their. their. their. their released to this person and then they find out actually they have to work every day, often the sponsor has already found them a place to

work, they're sort of a broker, they're not going to get to go to school, they're going to be living the sort of adult life that they could never have imagined. What does the sponsor get out of this? The sponsors have been really surprisingly willing to talk to me. I mean a lot of these kids are essentially in debt bondage and their sponsors are you know in a very legally dicey situation. So the sponsors are taking the pinch off the salary? The sponsors are getting paid. They charge interest. Okay. Some of them have shown me lists that they've kept of the kids interest dependent. It's sort of like the kids are in debt and they can never get out of it. So. So. So. So. So. So. So their their. So. So. So their. So their. So their. So their. So their. So their. So their. So, so their their their their their their their their their they's they's their their their they's they's they're they're they're their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their s. their. their s. their. their. So. their. So. So. their. So. So. their. So. their. their. So. their their their their their their s. So. So. So. So. So. So is. So is. So is. So is. So is. So is. So is. So, their s. So is. So is. So, their their s. So is. So, their their their. It's sort of like the kids are in debt and they could never get out of it. It's like living with a loan shark or some shit. Yeah, living with a loan shark who you know said your life was

going to be better if you cross the border. And now you're here so you're screwed so you can't snitch because you're illegal and you need the money so you have to keep working because you can't go home. And also we also we also also also also also also also also also also also the to the the the to the to the the the to the the to the the the the to to the the. the. the the. to the. the the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the their their. their. the their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. their. the. the. the. the. the. I. I. I. I. the. I. I. I'm. the. the. the.e.e.e.e.e. te. te. te. te. te. te. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the money so you have to keep working because you can't go home. And also we also don't know if the sponsor is abusive. Exactly, and you don't speak the language and you know you're never going to learn it because you're not in school. So you're just in this very, very isolated place. Okay, thank you for that digression. Now, the sponsors didnthen spin this and say, Oh, the kid is learning a skill that will help him matriculate into the American workforce. What the sponsors say, to me it sort of sounds like the same idea of, oh, kid needs to work, it's good for kids to work. You know, they're learning how to be an adult. They're learning valuable skills, like how to clean a, you know, meat processing plant.

You're sort of hearing it at both ends now, for me at least, like talking to these sponsors and then sort of hearing out in these like state-level political debates. It's this idea, like, why not put kids to work? Okay. So then, let's follow the money then. Where does loosening these child labor laws benefit the Republican lawmakers that are trying thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thi. their their thi. their thi. their, thi. their, their, their, their, the loosening these child labor laws benefit the Republican lawmakers that are trying to get this stuff greenlet? What's their pinch? Is it the payoffs from the companies that then support their agendas or help fund their re-election campaigns? Like, what is the motivation for a lawmaker to allow children to be subjected to this type of shit legally. It goes back to the idea of deregulation and that's a very conservative value that we see,

especially in these agricultural communities where they say folks in DC with their data and their PhDs don't know our way of life and can't tell us how to be able to raise our children. And what they don't understand is that what's the ones that end up being left holding the bag are children that don't have any rights and nobody to look after them. Even though I spent my life working in the fields, that my parents spent their whole careers working in the fields, they never had access, I will never have access to capital to land, to the actual opportunities to one day own my own farm. All I know is how to pick asparagus and how to pick onions and apples, and that's all I will ever do because there is no climbing up the professional ladder. That is just a smoke screen for in reality what they just want is to be able able to have cheap labor force to be able to have cheap products that they can then have record-breaking profits off of, and it's built on the backs of migrant workers, especially those that require children.

What kind of country are we building when we need children to have to give up school to be able to be out there working in those fields to feed our own families, you know, those healthy fruits and vegetables. And the final thought that I'll leave is how many of those members of Congress of those Republicans have their actual children working at the same hours that I did, doing the same work that I did? The answer is none of them. And they're children won't ever their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. We. We. We. We. We. I. I. I. I. I. I. I, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. I. I. I. I's, the. I'm the. I'm theatea. I'm thea.ea.ea. I'm thea. I'm thea. I'm thea. I'm thiii. I'm their work that I did. The answer is none of them. And their children won't ever need to do any of that. And yet they're going to claim that their children know how the value of hard work and responsibility and go into adulthood without needing any of those steps. So that's a good enough path for them, but not for us children that don't have any

other protections or opportunities, we need to learn the value of hard work by breaking our backs and sometimes even giving up our lives. Okay, so Hannah, you write this article and it exposes everything that Norma already knew to be true that the Biden administration was unaware was true and they, what do you say, two days later, they put out the statement that we're gonna get, we're gonna figure out, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, which is basically what the statement said. Was there any fallout with the companies? Did they round them up? Did the Fed show up to the farm, Hannah?

Did they show up with the handcuffs? You know, like in those mobi, the mo mob............ We, the mobobob.. We, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, their, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the statement, the statement, the statement, the statement, the statement, the statement, the statement, the statement, their, the statement, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their, their, their, their, their, their, the, I've got a, I've got an arrest warrant for your whole family. And then they took everybody out to meat plant, or was it just business as usual? I mean, what an image. That did not happen. The Department of Labor is looking into some of the companies that we named, but with these bigger brands, they have a lot of deniability. So for example, we found kids who were making spicy hot cheetos and they told us their lungs were burning, they were working these overnight shifts with all this sort of spicy dust in the air and then going to high school the next day and trying to sort of make it through

their classes and then working the overnight shift again and occasionally sleeping on the weekends. And nobody's denying that that happened, but that was happening at a manufacturer. And Chito's, the brand, is saying, well, we had no idea that this is who was making our product. For me, it was very easy to find this out. It was like waiting in the parking lot, watching the shift change,

and noticing that the people coming out looked like 14 and 15-year-old. So the Department of labor is looking th-lap-lap-l it's sort of unclear how far up the chain it's going to go. But the Biden administration says they're going to hold the brands to account, which would be a departure. So then it sounds like the brands are playing the same game that the government is playing and going, we didn't know that that was happening down there. I just they just delivered the spicy dust powder, then I make the Cheetos in my factory. I didn't know they was doing that. Hey, stop doing that over there.

And you're saying that these corporations should have been doing the due diligence from the jump to make sure that they were partnering with production companies that were following the law. I mean, I can't say what's in people's heads. All I can tell you is everyone, the politicians, the companies are shocked and appalled. And for me, it was easy to find these kids and people like Norma have been sounding this alarm for years and years. But the reality is that the systems are set up this way to where people have deniability.

You have contractors and you have contractors and different different layers whether it's in the fields or anywhere else and that's how they've been getting around it because then it becomes a finger-pointing game of they lie to me they presented me with with false documents but nobody's ever held accountable is what the short answer is people keep going around around circles and that's why decades later you still have this issue. After the break I'm gonna talk about solutions to this issue. I feel like we've had a nice fun time depressing one another, just kind of ping-ponging that ball of sadness around the room.

But after the break, we're going to talk solutions, and I want to talk about, Hannah, what you've been able to do just to make sure your mental health is well and Norm are you as well on the backside of you know of this one you being in that journey and two you investigate in that journey this is beyond the scenes we'll be right back. Welcome back to beyond the scenes we're rounding third and headed for home we are talking about child labor and why people want to keep kids working in these factories and getting abused and keeping them into what I consider to be a form of legalized enslavement. Let's just call it what it is. Hannah, you went to factory after factory talking to child after child and hearing trauma after trauma. How have you

been able to get better mentally on the other side of this? Because the amount of bad you have to take in to create the article is probably what quadruple ten tuple that's not a word. Decaheddecahedron time, I'm trying to show off my math skills, I'm failing. What are some of the things that you were able to do on the other side of this story to settle yourself? I mean... How do you? Is there even a way? Yeah, journalists who do sort of trauma reporting, I think have lots of strategies and they sort of to to to to to to tapee tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tipel tipel tipel tipel tipel tipel tipel tipel tipel theu theu theu theu theu theu theu theu theu thea tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal tipal think, have lots of strategies and they sort of fall into two camps and some people get really into wellness and exercise and some people are just like at the bar and I feel like I'm more in the drinking side of that equation. But no, I mean, this reporting was so intense, but it's nothing compared to what these

kids are going through. And like Norma was talking about earlier, they're kids. So a lot of the conversations I was having with them or about how much they missed their parents or how worried they were for their future. But they also were really into their video games or really into the girlfriend who they had or were trying to get. And they were often sort of silly or sort of just hanging out out out tha tho tho to tho tho tho tho tho tho thi to get. And they were often sort of silly or sort of just hanging out. And so that for me was comforting. Like it was really sort of reassuring to see that these kids still could do things that were just sort of normal silly kid stuff, even as they were in

these really dark circumstances. And that's sort of given me, you know, comfort and helped me keep going on this reporting. The other thing is I think things really might change. I mean, there have been, I think, a dozen congressional letters written about this just since the story ran. There have been laws introduced to try to make child labor a criminal offense for the employers. And there's been real change at the Department of Labor, the health and human services. But it's sort of the rare investigation, to to to to to to to toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, the, tho, the the tho, tho, tho, tho, thoomomome, thoome, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the it seems like things actually might get better if the pressure is kept up.

Norma, when you reflect on your childhood, are there parts of it that you still work to reconcile, or is it just an understood thing that just had to be done for the sake of your family, and at least you all were together? Like with any other child, you think back and you treasure the stuff that really mattered. I was very fortunate to be able to be alongside my parents, my mom, my dad. And so I had their unconditional love and through great sacrifices that they made, they made sure that I was able to get the education they couldn't and that my sister did too. And so I went on to finish school and be able to change the trajectory of my life. And now my daughter won't have to go work in the fields.

And now I have access to health care and being able to get a therapist and being able to, through my education, you know, find solace in amazing authors like my favorite Maya Angelo, who know talks about often about the sort of things that she witnessed and how that anger could either turn into a cancer or fuel your passion to being able to write the wrongs of the world and so I took that those experiences and I've been now dedicating my career to being able to make a difference for migrant workers for children for migrant women, people from my community and making sure that people able to make a difference for migrant workers, for children, for migrant women, people from my community, and making sure that people recognize, a, their humanity. I think that's incredibly important for us to be able to see that these are people. As I mentioned, you know, as a kid, I had the same sort of hopes and dreams and joy that other children did. We were just put in different circumstances.

And B, making sure that we're keeping up the pressure, that is the name of the game, is, you know, none of these people are going to do the right thing just because it's so chose to us they would have done it already. And so my job now is to make sure we keep up this pressure, and every time that there's these sort of reports reports reports reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports thort of reports thort of reports thir reports thir reports thir reports thir reports thi reports thi reports the reports thi reports thi reports thi reports thi reports reports the reports thi reports thi reports that thi reports thi reports thi reports thi reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports the reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports reports th of th of the reports reports reports reports th of their their their the members of Congress and our government officials about the realities that are happening out here in the fields, that they are actually moved to doing something and not just empty words until the next campaign. And so that's what I've been doing now to sort of keep me going.

And lastly, to being able to just spending more time with my family, it means so much to me to be able to provide for my parents, and to to to to to to to to to to the parents time with my family. It means so much to me to being able to provide for my parents and know that even though they had no retirement plan as a farm worker, they had no health care, that I can now provide for them as a professional to being able to help them meet their most basic needs when an emergency comes up, which is a lot to be said that a lot of other people who came up in the fields don't have, and they don't have the mental health support that I did. You know, I was able to overcome a lot of the complexes you do get when you're being

told day after day that you're worthless, that you're less than, that you don't deserve the same protections or opportunities that other children do in this country. And when you're constantly questioned about how American you are because of my last name, because I know how to speak Spanish, because I have brown skin, I'm still constantly having to prove just how American I am, even though I was born in this country, my parents have born, my grandparents are naturalized, and yet somehow I'm still not American enough. How can migrant children, Hannah, seek safe work environments?

Now what are their options now? You know, what are some of the things that they can do? So I have talked to some children who were able to get a lawyer and apply for a work permit and those kids are actually doing great. I mean I talked to one kid whose job now is to collect the shopping carts outside a supermarket, which, you know, that's not a great job, but it's much better than what he was doing. And it pays him more, and he's going through school, he's a straight-a student, like, his life is totally turned around. That's sort of the rare situation where a child was able to get legal services.

Most of the children are never going to get a work permit, and so they're always going to be in these terrible, badly paying jobs. But these are kids who have a ton of energy, like they're really proactive people who came all the way across several countries to come here in search of a their their their their their their their thiiiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi's thi's thi's thi thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's thi thi thi thi, thi proactive people who came all the way across several countries to come here in search of usually a better life. So from what I've seen, when these kids are able to sort of do those very first steps toward taking care of themselves and working an easier job, they really thrive. Okay, so then last question. What do you all think could be done to create a lasting change? Because like we were talking earlier, Hannah, it's the job of health and human services to make sure that when these kids come over,

that they're in a decent situation. Why aren't they checking on the kids to make sure that the bullshit isn't happening to them? So this is one of the changes that the kids to make sure that the bullshit isn't happening to them. So this is one of the changes that the Biden administration is promising. This is part of that announcement two days after our story ran about how everything's going to get better now. The Department of Health and Human Services is saying that by 2024, they're going to provide services to every kid. And like Norma was saying, you know, that they're going to provide legal services to every kid. And like Norma was saying, you know, people say things in the moment and

then it's sort of up to other people to keep the pressure on and see if that really happens. But in theory, this is something that the administration is promising to do at some sort of undetermined point in the future and we'll see if it happens. Well he's running for re-election so hey let's finish the job. I think is that the slogan? I'm not sure I need to double check. Norma what do you propose we could do to make sure that these laws are being properly enforced across these industries because it seems like at the federal level there's still a little bit of disorganization you know to to to people that are the parents of child workers, what options do they have? If they are also migrant workers themselves, what things can they do to help themselves? Is there a way to blow to whistle on your own factory? There absolutely is, but we

need to make sure that there are the protections in place to keep these whistleblowers from having all the blowback because oftentimes they are the ones that feel all of the burden and everybody else walks away unscathed. But what it comes down to is evening the plane field. And for that you need comprehensive immigration reform. You will hear me say it a thousand times. That is such a huge issue and being able to even out the playing field to make sure th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. the, the wo, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, and I I I. And, their, their, their, their, tho.e.e.o.e. Wea, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the being able to even out the playing field to make sure that vulnerable workers know that they're not going to be separated from their families that they're not going to be ripped away from wage-earning opportunities for asking for employers to do the right thing. In addition to that we also have to close those loopholes that we've been talking about. It makes no sense to continue to allow children at such young ages to work out in agriculture

or in other types of jobs that are so dangerous to them where they're risking so much just so that we could be able to have artificially cheap foods and vegetables. It also makes no sense for us to feel like we're in more danger going into the workplace than let's say a police officer. And that's what often happens with migrant women. There's pay inequity where people are not being valued, especially those migrant women. There are places like the Be Heard Act that would benefit from a bill like that, that would make sure that women are having the safeguards and the protections that they need to feel safe at work.

And we also need to make sure that everybody is held accountable for the violations that they are propagating, whether it's against women, whether it's against migrant workers, whether it's against children, because right now we do not have that accountability. And that takes funding and that takes commitment and that takes really going beyond just the words but actually putting into action because we have the proposals for bills and regulations and all kinds of things to make things better. It just takes political will and that's what seems to be lacking in Washington, D.C. right now. Well, I cannot thank the two of you enough for getting on and talking about a very, very essential topic. Thank you all so much, Hannah Norma.

Thank you for going beyond the scenes with me. And thank you both for being the sprinkles on top of my dessert waffle. I need to write. Thank you. Thank you. Listen to the Daily Show beyond the scenes on Apple Podcasts, the IHeart Radio App or Wherever you get your podcast. Wherever you get them, we don't care. Just listen to it.

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