CLEVELAND, Ohio – A photographic memory is cool until you see something you don’t want to remember.
The other day, I caught sight of a news report covering the deportation of illegal immigrants. A line of men in orange jumpsuits, their hands cuffed behind their backs and their ankles held by manacles, walked bent over as guards held them by the neck and led them with chain leashes. They looked like animals being led to slaughter. The image haunts me.
None of it needed to be dramatic and public, but our government and the business of television made it dramatic and public, maybe, so we would all see it and gawk and witness the sacrifice of others and feel glad that we were safe. Some, I’m sure, celebrated that these “illegals” were going back to their homeland or some other country.
Ahh, but Newton’s third law of motion was already at work because every action our government takes, an equal and opposite reaction, whether foreseen or not, is happening. Call it “reaping what you sow” or good ol’ karma, but the government’s lack of foresight is causing a problem.
ICE agents rounded up so many immigrants in Florida, the state is now facing a critical shortage of workers for its major industries like agriculture, construction, hospitality and entertainment. Ruh-roh. Who’s gonna do all those low paying, labor intensive jobs?
Evidently, children.
Currently, Florida’s lawmakers are working on weakening child labor laws to create a new pool of potential employees (HB1225 and SB918). Apparently, the legislature sees kids as young as 13 as the ones who will take up the slack. If passed, it looks like they’ll allow children 16-17 to work overnight and during school hours under certain conditions. Youth of all ages could be allowed to cover a lot more hours per week. Dangerous jobs could become permissible.
Maybe that was the plan all along – to use children to replace the shipped-out immigrants. It would certainly be a way to limit children’s education and worldview. As history shows, those who seek complete control prefer weak-minded people who comply without question. How convenient.
Every state has laws protecting children from exploitation by greedy guardians, businesses or government. Ohio’s Minor Labor Laws prohibit overnight work for anyone under 18 and holds employers accountable for the number of hours kids work per day and week. Dangerous occupations are off limits to kids. These include any job with machines or conditions that could maim or kill. Think meat grinding, farming, food processing or construction.
In January, Newsweek reported five states had new child labor laws going into effect. Four states, California, Colorado, Illinois and Virginia increased protections. Indiana, however, decreased protections. An Indiana lawmaker defended the change, saying the intent was to increase opportunity for children to have jobs so they’d be better prepared for real life.
But is that a real life they get to choose or some real life they’re dealt? Sure, some kids become hard working adults when they join a kitchen team at 14, but too many may never finish high school. Too many may be limited by lack of a college degree or trade certification. Too many may not even make it to adulthood.
Even with child labor laws in place, the November 2024 U.S. Department of Labor Report to Congress exposed an increase in both workplace violations involving minors and minors sustaining injury or death while working. There are children losing limbs and even their lives doing jobs they never should have been doing in the first place. Many of these children have immigrant parents.
Children are not our cheap labor. Children are our future. Children should be playing sports, not losing their legs in a trencher accident. They should be doing homework and making noise and eating all the food in the fridge. Often laundry instructions are too much for them to follow, let alone all the necessary safety procedures required to work safely in a poultry processing plant.
Incidentally, Indiana changed the name of their Children’s Labor Department to Division of Youth Employment. That sounds so much nicer, doesn’t it? Maybe they’re trying to hide their actions from karma.
Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny – Twenty Lessons from the 20th Century, warns us to listen for dangerous words. “Youth employment” is dangerous because it sounds positive. Making something sound nicer makes accepting it easier, but that doesn’t make it good or right.
It’s up to us to have the foresight to see the consequences of our actions or inactions because our government has forgotten – karma always wins. And it’ll be us who reap what it sows.
Leslie Kouba is a freelance writer residing on Cleveland’s West side and writes regularly for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. Her columns draw attention to ideas, concepts, social needs and political shenanigans. Sometimes, she writes humorously, because laughing is her favorite activity. She values relationships and deep conversations (because small talk gets us nowhere).
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