Juneteenth: A Day to Demand Sustainable Action for Black and Brown Children

Many of us have attended dozens of protests over the past eight months and been struck by the youth leading on the frontlines. Amid unprecedented violence and exploitation against children, we must do more than witness; we must join young activists in demanding sustainable action.

This week, as we commemorate Juneteenth, World Refugee Day, and the 12th Anniversary of DACA, we call upon the Biden administration and Congress to honor their commitments to providing pathways to safety for young migrants and ending labor exploitation.

Since President Biden’s inauguration and signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, his administration has expressed committed to racial equity and ending modern day slavery. Yet these commitments have failed to materialize into meaningful legislation and policies. Forced labor under exploitative dehumanizing conditions continues in plantations and factories and prisons.

High profile reporting has shed light on how poor oversight and economic incentives for businesses drive many migrant children into these dangerous work conditions.

This is also true in off-shore industries where dire economic conditions fuel and compound military conflicts. In Haiti, for instance, where U.S. companies have profited for decades paying workers less than $2/day for long hours of assembly work in factories, child labor exploitation is rampant. Conditions have worsened since paramilitary forces rose up in 2022 to fill a power vacuum within the corrupt and oppressive multinational system, forcing an estimated 500 children to flee each day.

The war against children compounded by labor exploitation and military conflict is global. We have witnessed children bear the brunt of military interventions heavily influenced by the U.S., including the decades-long Palestinian genocide which intensified over the last 8 months in Gaza. In the first four months of the genocide, more children were killed in Gaza than in the previous 4 years globally, according to the UNRWA.

Last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Children in Armed Conflict said she is chiefly worried about what’s happening to children in war-torn Sudan, followed by Congo and Haiti. Children in Myanmar and Ukraine also suffer acutely from war in their countries.

Despite Congress and the Biden administration’s pledges to racial equity and providing humanitarian assistance to children displaced by conflict, children from the global south seeking safety continue to be turned away from U.S. borders and shores in their search for safety. And despite commitments to protect children from labor exploitation and eradicate modern day slavery, Congress remains resistant to legislation that would safeguard children in workspaces.

Sensible laws and policies to protect young people’s pathways to safety include access to asylum at all ports of entry, access to legal representation, and work authorization. Legislation like the Children’s Safe Welcome Act, the Dream Act, and the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act which would guarantee safer reception, screening, access to counsel, healthcare, education and work protections for youth are all pending before Congress. Administrative actions Biden could take include the re-designation of protected status for Haitians, halting deportations, and exempting families from expedited removal processing and detention.

We urge Congress and the Biden administration to pay more than lip service to the tenets of racial equity, freedom, dignity, and safety. We urge action in the form of stronger protections for migrant children before it is too late.

By Abena Hutchful, Policy and Litigation Attorney