Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused Republicans on Wednesday of preferring to roll back child labor laws rather than allow immigrants to fill job shortages.
Lawmakers in several states over the past few years have proposed loosening child labor restrictions in order to fill vacant roles, including lowering the age someone can legally serve alcohol in bars and restaurants to as young as 14 and allowing some minors to work in hazardous conditions.
“There are some lawmakers in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa that are recommending the loosening of child labor laws in their state because they have so many jobs left unfulfilled,” the liberal congresswoman said in a House Oversight hearing. “We have seen teenagers dying in states like Wisconsin, Missouri, and Michigan because so many jobs are going unfilled.”
“And many of these Republican legislatures would rather roll back child labor laws and put 11- and 13-year-olds back in the workplace than allow immigrants into their community and do what they’ve always done.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s latest comment stems from a Department of Labor report in October that exposed a Kentucky warehouse for allegedly employing two children, ages 11 and 13, for months at its distribution center. One child had operated the forklift, which is banned for minors.
The Department of Labor also reported 955 cases of child labor violations affecting 5,792 minors in fiscal 2023. Just over 500 of the minors were employed in hazardous conditions.
Three 16-year-olds died on the job last year after working in hazardous conditions that were banned for people under 18. One worked at a recycling park in Missouri, one worked at a poultry plant in Mississippi, and the third worked at a sawmill in Wisconsin, according to the Guardian.
Some lawmakers in the House have tried to expand protections for child workers, but others, such as Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), said teenagers 14 to 16 should be allowed to work longer hours on school nights.
“If a high school student can play in a football game until 9 p.m., or play video games late into the evening, they should also be allowed to hold a job if they wish to,” Johnson said in a statement last year.
Other lawmakers, such as Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Sen. James Risch (R-ID), have proposed lowering the legal working age in their respective states.
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Republicans on the state level have also introduced bills to roll back children safety laws in at least 16 states, and Iowa and Arkansas have enacted some of the proposals.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Labor for comment.