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☆ Thousands of Black women claim hair relaxers gave them cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Some of the ads show Black women applying hair products before cutting to a summary of the NIH study’s findings. “We do not believe the science supports a link between chemical hair straighteners or relaxers and cancer,” Revlon said. Lead author White said in a statement in response to Reuters questions that there is currently no strong evidence linking family history of breast cancer to increased risk of uterine cancer. The sisters said they wanted their mother’s death last year following a battle with uterine cancer to mean something. Bush, the St. Louis cosmetologist, joined the litigation in August, she said, because of the possibility that hair relaxers cause cancer.

Persons: Sheila Bush, Bush, Revlon’s, ” Revlon, L’Oreal, ”, Ben Crump, George Floyd, Diandra, ” Debrosse Zimmerman, Jenny Mitchell, Crump, “ it’s, ” Crump, Louis, Jayne Conroy, don’t, Adam Zimmerman, Alexandra White, phthalates, White, Weiss, Porter Kaye Scholer, Jennifer Hoekstra, Zimmerman, “, X Ante, Quiana Hester, Ariana, Nakisha, Patrice Hester, Louis cosmetologist, Mike Spector, Richa Naidu, Kristina Cooke, Diana Novak Jones, Eve Watling, Lawrence Bryant, Alicia Powell, Angela Johnston, Lucy Ha, Vanessa O’Connell, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: L’Oreal, Revlon, U.S, National Institutes of Health, Reuters, NIH, Supreme, University of Southern California Gould School of Law, U.S . House, American Cancer Society, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, World Health Organization, Paul, Arnold, FDA, USC, Washington DC Locations: Louis, Olive, U.S, India, Minneapolis, Missouri, Chicago, United States, Rifkind, Baltimore, Houston, Washington, San Diego, Bush

It would also require the Labor Department to compile a list of companies ineligible for federal contracts based on "serious, repeated, or pervasive violations of child labor laws." The Labor Department said earlier this month that in the 2023 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2023, investigations had found close to 5,800 kids illegally employed in the U.S., an 88% increase from 2019. Another bipartisan Senate bill introduced on Thursday by Republican Marco Rubio from Florida, with Democrats Alex Padilla from California and John Hickenlooper from Colorado, and Republican Roger Marshall from Kansas, would require the Labor Department to report more details to lawmakers about the perpetrators and victims involved in child labor cases. A February 2022 Reuters story exposed child labor at Alabama chicken plants, revealing how unaccompanied Central American migrants in debt to human smugglers were working grueling factory shifts. Later, in November, the Labor Department filed a complaint against cleaning company Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) for employing dozens of kids cleaning meatpacking plants around the country, some of whom suffered chemical burns and other injuries.

Persons: Cory Booker, Kevin Lamarque, Josh Hawley, Republican Marco Rubio, Alex Padilla, John Hickenlooper, Republican Roger Marshall, Rubio, Dick Durbin, Mica Rosenberg, Joshua Schneyer, Kristina Cooke, Aurora Ellis, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, Democratic, Labor Department, U.S . Department of Agriculture, The Labor Department, Republican, Central, Packers Sanitation Services Inc, Hyundai, Kia, Reuters, Democratic Senators, Senate, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States, U.S, New Jersey, Missouri, Florida, California, Colorado, Kansas, Alabama, Korean, Mexico, Illinois, New York

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Donald Trump. Trump made building border barriers a central tenet of his first campaign for president with the rally chant, "Build That Wall." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that there was "no new Administration policy with respect to border walls. From day one, this Administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer." In another major enforcement action announced on Thursday, Biden administration officials said they would be resuming deportation flights to Venezuela, which had been suspended because of chilly relations between the two countries.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Donald Trump, Biden, Trump, Alejandro Mayorkas, Mayorkas, Will Joe Biden, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Brian Snyder, Laiken, Eric Adams, Mica Rosenberg, Nandita Bose, Doina Chiacu, Jason Lange, Jeff Mason, Raúl Cortés, Dave Graham, Kristina Cooke, Heather Timmons, Howard Goller, Grant McCool Organizations: Trump, Republican Party, Democrat, Homeland, U.S, Reuters, Federal, Biden's Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, Texas National Guard, REUTERS, Center for Biological Diversity, Biden, U.S . Department of Justice, Democratic, New, New York City, Institute, Thomson Locations: Mexico, America, Starr County , Texas, Rio Grande, United States, Rio, Eagle Pass , Texas, U.S, Starr, Texas, Southwest, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Darien, New York, Chicago, Ecuador, Washington, Mexico City, San Francisco

REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 5 (Reuters) - The United States is restarting deportations of Venezuelans who cross the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Thursday, part of attempts to curb a record number of migrant crossings. The record number of arrivals has strained resources in cities across the United States, with Democratic officials in New York and Chicago sounding the alarm. Frosty diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela had made it difficult for the U.S. to deport Venezuelans to their home country. Migration is the direct result of sanctions, the Venezuelan government added, repeating its frequent accusation that U.S. measures are a violation of international law. Washington has insisted Maduro must take steps toward free elections before it considers any further significant sanctions relief, though the U.S. has faced calls from some Latin American governments to take such action without further delay.

Persons: Jose Luis Gonzalez, Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden, Mayorkas, Biden, Donald Trump, Yvan Gil, Washington, Nicolas Maduro, Maduro, Mica Rosenberg, Kristina Cooke, Julia Symmes Cobb, Vivian Sequera, Matt Spetalnick, Simon Lewis, David Ljunggren, Grant McCool, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, Homeland, U.S, Republican, Democratic, Foreign, United, United Nations, Trump, Socialist, Thomson Locations: U.S, Mexico, Ciudad Juarez, United States, Venezuela . Washington, Venezuela, Mexico City, Darien, New York, Chicago, Venezuelan, Latin America, Caribbean, Colombia, Nicolas Maduro . Washington

The U.S. State Department considers Tamaulipas, where the two cities are located, to be the most dangerous state along the U.S.-Mexico border. Tens of thousands of people a day are competing for 1,450 slots, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). U.S. authorities temporarily suspended CBP One appointments in June in another Tamaulipas border city, Nuevo Laredo, due to "extortion and kidnapping concerns," the official said. Juan Rodriguez, head of the Tamaulipas migrant services agency, said the agency was "attentive" to the issue. Additional reporting by Jackie Botts in Mexico City, Daniel Becerril in Reynosa and Matamoros, and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco.

Persons: Wong, Luis Miranda, Joe Biden's, Biden, Bertha Bermúdez Tapia, Miranda, Olivia Lemus, Lemus, Juan Rodriguez, Laura Gottesdiener, Ted Hesson, Mica Rosenberg, Beth Solomon, Jackie Botts, Daniel Becerril, Kristina Cooke, Mary Milliken, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, U.S . State Department, New Mexico State University, Gulf Cartel, Northeast, U.S . Customs, Border Protection, CBP, DHS, Biden, The U.S . State Department, Carolina, Thomson Locations: U.S, Mexico, New Jersey, REYNOSA, Mexican, Reynosa, Venezuela, Carolina, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, United States, Washington, Nuevo Laredo, Central, Northern Mexico, Chicago, The, Honduran, Venezuelan, New York City, Mexico City, San Francisco

[1/7] A general view of the Torrance County Detention Facility, where migrants are housed, in Estancia, New Mexico, U.S., September 21, 2023. But ICE ultimately only ended contracts with two of the detention centers flagged in the memo. Six of the nine detention centers identified in the August 2022 memo were operated by private companies. The lawsuit cites ICE contracting reports that said Torrance staffing shortages impacted safety, security and care. The Biden administration has held more migrants in ICE detention in recent months following the mid-May implementation of stricter asylum rules.

Persons: Adria Malcolm, Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden, Biden, There's, Torrance, Jenny Burke, CoreCivic, Brian Todd, Rebecca Sheff, Christopher Ferreira, Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, Adria, Biden, Immigration, Customs Enforcement, Reuters, ICE, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Homeland, U.S, Residential Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, ICE Processing, GEO Group, Immigration Centers of America, GEO, ICA, Thomson Locations: Torrance, Estancia , New Mexico, U.S, New Mexico, Mexico, Albuquerque, Berks, Pennsylvania, Yuba County Jail, California, Yuba, Farmville, Virginia, COVID, Adelanto, San Francisco, New York City

☆ Exclusive-Biden Officials Kept Immigration Jails Despite Internal Cost Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

But ICE ultimately only ended contracts with two of the detention centers flagged in the memo. Six of the nine detention centers identified in the August 2022 memo were operated by private companies. U.S. President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign to reform immigration detention and cut out for-profit companies. The lawsuit cites ICE contracting reports that said Torrance staffing shortages impacted safety, security and care. The Biden administration has held more migrants in ICE detention in recent months following the mid-May implementation of stricter asylum rules.

Persons: Ted Hesson, Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden, Biden, There's, Torrance, Jenny Burke, CoreCivic, Brian Todd, Rebecca Sheff, Christopher Ferreira, Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Biden, Immigration, Customs Enforcement, Reuters, ICE, Homeland, U.S, Residential Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, ICE Processing, GEO Group, Immigration Centers of America, GEO, ICA Locations: Torrance, New Mexico, U.S, Mexico, Albuquerque, Berks, Pennsylvania, Yuba County Jail, California, Yuba, Farmville, Virginia, COVID, Adelanto, San Francisco, New York City

The International Labour Organization (ILO), of which Cambodia is a member, permits prison labour provided it is not forced. The companies, which Sopheak confirmed were W Dexing Garment (Cambodia), IGTM (Cambodia) and Chia Ho (Cambodia) Garment Industrial, did not respond to requests for comment. It said it learned in February that Cambodia was investigating and that the prison workshops had been suspended. Centric told Reuters in an email in June that it had "placed on hold" imports from a factory in Cambodia and would "immediately terminate" any supplier found to be using prison labour. CAMBODIA INVESTIGATESPrison labour at CC2 potentially puts Cambodia at odds with the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences, which grants duty-free benefits to eligible developing nations.

Persons: Keo Chhea, Sopheak, Chia Ho, AAFA's, Ken Loo, Aun, Loo, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, amfori, Klot Dara, Stephen Lamar, Nate Herman, Clare Baldwin, Katherine Masters, Siddharth Cavale, John Shiffman, Kristina Cooke, David Crawshaw, Kay Johnson Organizations: Correctional, Google, REUTERS Acquire, Walmart, Centric Brands, Reuters, American Apparel and Footwear Association, International Labour Organization, ILO, Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, State, European Union, Japan, Garment, Human Rights, Textile, Apparel, Footwear, Travel Goods Association, IZOD, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, U.S, Travelway, Centric, Better Factories, BFC, amfori's Business, Authentic Brands, U.S . Trade, CC2, Cambodia's Ministry of Interior, General Department of Prisons, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Phnom Penh, Cambodia, PHNOM PENH, U.S, Washington, AAFA, IGTM, Canada, Better Factories Cambodia, CC2, CAMBODIA, Cambodia's U.S, New York, Los Angeles

REUTERS/Quinn GlabickiA White House spokesperson said Biden "continues to support moving away from the use of private detention facilities in the immigration detention system." One facility evaluated as part of the Biden administration review was Stewart Detention Center, a Georgia lockup operated by the private prison company CoreCivic (CXW.N). The administration has scaled back immigration detention in some ways. ICE often pays to maintain a fixed number of beds at detention centers regardless of whether they are actually used. But just six months later, the company signed a contract to reopen the same complex as a 1,900-bed immigration detention center.

Persons: Quinn Glabicki PHILIPSBURG, Joe Biden, watchdogs, Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden, Donald Trump, Mayorkas, lockups, Quinn Glabicki, Stewart, Ryan Gustin, Winn, Quinn Glabicki Ruben Dario, didn't, Ryan Horvath, Richwood, BIDEN, Trump, Biden's, Jose Gordo, Angela Kelley, Kelley, Boy Sonkarlay, Erika Guadalupe Nunez, Ted Hesson, Mica Rosenberg, Kristina Cooke, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Processing, GEO Group, U.S . Immigration, Customs, REUTERS, Democratic, Immigration, Customs Enforcement, Biden, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, Reuters, ICE, Companies, Republican, Trump, White, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, Stewart Detention, Winn Correctional Center, LaSalle Corrections, Richwood Correctional, LaSalle, Reuters Graphics Reuters, BI, ICE Processing Center, GEO, Visitors, Thomson Locations: Philipsburg , Pennsylvania, U.S, Pennsylvania, Mexico, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, LaSalle, Argentine, Spanish, California, Liberian, Philadelphia, Philipsburg, Washington, New York

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Joe Biden's new regulation restricting asylum access at the U.S.-Mexico border, upending a key tenet of his plan to deter migration after COVID-era Title 42 restrictions ended in May. California-based U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar stayed the order for 14 days, leaving the restrictions in place for now. The Biden administration within hours appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The number of migrants caught crossing the border illegally plummeted in recent months after the new regulation went into place. Whether the trend will continue if the new asylum restrictions are blocked remains unclear.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Jon Tigar, Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Tigar, prolongs, Katrina Eiland, Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg, Chris Reese, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S, District, Appeals, Democrat, Republican, Trump, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, Reuters, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, White, Thomson Locations: U.S, Mexico, . California, Belize, Colombia, Washington, New York

REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File PhotoWASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY, July 2 (Reuters) - U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing a new U.S. refugee program for some non-Mexican asylum seekers waiting in Mexico, four sources said, part of President Joe Biden's attempts to create more legal avenues for migration. The program would likely be open to Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan refugees in Mexico, the sources said. Under another Biden program, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans can request to enter the U.S. by air if they have U.S. sponsors. The initiative under discussion would be a "Priority Two" refugee program, the sources said, similar to one opened for Afghans in 2021. If the program encourages more migrants to enter Mexico, it could tax the country's already-strained resources for dealing with migrants, the official said.

Persons: Daniel Becerril, Joe Biden's, Biden, Alicia Barcena, Ted Hesson, Dave Graham, Daina Beth Solomon, Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg, Mary Milliken, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, MEXICO CITY, Haitian, Nicaraguan, U.S, Biden, BIDEN, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, WASHINGTON, MEXICO, U.S, Mexican, Cuban, Latin America, Caribbean, America, Washington, Mexico City, San Francisco

☆ US will 'make every effort' to boost cooperation with China on fentanyl
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | Thomson Reuters | Humeyra Pamuk Is A Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent Based In Washington Dc. She Covers The U.S. State Department | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The United States has said the institute was complicit in human rights abuses toward Uyghurs and other Chinese ethnic minorities. But Robinson said blocking the flow of fentanyl and precursors to the United States and securing China's cooperation on the issue was a top priority. And it's an issue I think is very likely going to be raised directly with the Secretary's Chinese counterpart, PRC (People's Republic of China) counterpart. And depending on the response, I think everything is on the table in terms of getting some kind of global cooperation on this issue," Robinson said. Robinson said he did not find it "that unusual" that China would seek to extract concessions from Washington in exchange for help on fentanyl.

Persons: Biden, Antony Blinken, Todd Robinson, Robinson, Joe Biden, Qin Gang, Gang, Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina, Kristina Cooke, Don Durfee, Angus MacSwan Organizations: U.S, China's Ministry, Public Security's Institute of Forensic Science, Commerce, Bureau of International Narcotics, Law, Affairs, State Department, People's, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Qin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, United States, U.S, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Washington, San Francisco

June 6 (Reuters) - The state of Florida on Tuesday acknowledged a role in sending two flights of migrants to California, saying all of them traveled voluntarily. California officials have reported two such flights arriving without warning in the capital Sacramento in recent days, and said the migrants carried documents indicating their transportation involved the state of Florida. The migrants apparently never passed through Florida, but were moved from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento. Advocates who aided the migrants in California said the first group was dropped at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. They also said the migrants reported being unaware of where they were being taken and had been promised jobs.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Florida's, Alecia Collins, Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta, Collins, Daniel Trotta, Kristina Cooke, Mary Milliken, Richard Chang Organizations: Sacramento ., Martha's Vineyard, Democratic, U.S, Florida's state's, Emergency, Reuters . California, Catholic Charities, Advocates, Roman Catholic Diocese of, Thomson Locations: Florida, California, Sacramento, Texas, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Martha's, El Paso , Texas, Denver , Colorado, United States, Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento

SAN FRANCISCO, June 5 (Reuters) - A flight carrying about 20 migrants landed in Sacramento, California, on Monday as state authorities investigated the role Florida had played in transporting them from Texas via New Mexico, according to the California attorney general's office and news reports. The migrants carried documents that indicated their transportation involved the state of Florida, the California attorney general's office said. More than a dozen migrants who arrived on Friday carried similar documentation, the office said. DeSantis said at the time that his administration flew the migrants from Texas to the island getaway because many of the migrants arriving in Florida come from Texas. The Republican-controlled Florida legislature passed an immigration bill in May that sets aside $12 million for the state to transport migrants, among other measures meant to deter illegal immigration.

Persons: Florida, general's, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta, Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: FRANCISCO, Republican, Bexar County Sheriff's, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Sacramento , California, Texas, New Mexico, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Bexar County, Sacramento, Democratic California, Washington, San Francisco

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden regulation, saying it aims to encourage migrants to enter using legal pathways. U.S. asylum officers hurried to figure out the logistics of applying the new asylum regulation. COVID EMERGENCY ENDS, ASYLUM BAN BEGINSTrump first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 as COVID swept the globe. The order allowed American authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico or other countries without a chance to request asylum. Migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes repeat crossers.

Migrants have been amassing in Mexico this week as thousands crossing into the U.S. have strained border cities. The Title 42 restrictions allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel many non-Mexican migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek U.S. asylum. Biden's new regulation restricting asylum access at the border resembles similar measures implemented under Trump that were blocked by U.S. courts. Some Democrats and immigration advocates have said the regulation undercuts the ability to seek asylum at U.S. borders as required by U.S. law and international agreements. The officials also said they expected Mexico to step up immigration enforcement this week, including in southern Mexico.

None of the agencies disputed the allegation, and each paid penalties of $5,050, the maximum state levy for a child labor violation. The U.S. and Alabama investigations began after a Reuters report last July first exposed the use of child labor at Hyundai parts makers in the state. The U.S. Department of Labor said in February the number of child labor violations in 2022 had soared by nearly 70% compared with the tally recorded in 2018. They said false documentation, even shoddy credentials like those filed by the boy's employers, makes child labor laws difficult to enforce. An Alabama labor department spokesperson told Reuters the agency is still working to determine who exactly hired the child to work at Hyundai Glovis.

☆ Over 1,000 migrants, angered by asylum policies, rush to U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lizbeth Diaz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Migrants said a new U.S. government app meant to streamline the process of securing asylum appointments from outside the United States has left them feeling fed up and helpless. A false rumor circulated on social media Wednesday that migrants surrendering at a specific spot at the border would be able to freely cross into U.S. territory. As they waited for a chance to cross the border, Border Patrol agents and Texas National Guard troops stood motionless in front of the massive metal gate, preventing them from getting through. Multiple migrants said they tried unsuccessfully to obtain a virtual appointment to start the asylum process in the U.S. Since the Biden administration rolled out the app in January, asylum seekers have complained of glitches, high demand, and a lack of appointments.

The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, follows a similar Democrat-led effort proposed this month in the Senate. The Department of Labor has also taken steps to increase enforcement of child labor violations and called on Congress to boost penalties. The Labor Department has seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations, with 835 companies found to have violated child labor laws in the last fiscal year. Under current federal law, the maximum civil monetary penalty for a child labor violation is $15,138 per child. In February, 33 Democratic lawmakers led by Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee signed a letter to the Labor Secretary urging immediate action to rid Hyundai's supply chain of child labor.

☆ White House may restart detention of migrant families - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration also is weighing reviving immigration arrests of migrant families within the United States who have been ordered deported, two of the officials said. The New York Times first reported the possible restart of family detention. The Biden administration has discussed using two Texas detention centers that previously housed families, three of the U.S. officials said. The Biden administration said in a February 2022 memo that it was repurposing family detention centers to hold only adults, a major shift away from Trump's push to expand such detention. Neha Desai, who represents migrant children in a decades-long lawsuit that governs conditions for their detention, criticized the possible detention restart.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in an uptick of similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in a rise in similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

One of the plants where children worked, SMART Alabama LLC in rural Luverne, Alabama, is a direct Hyundai subsidiary. STATE AND FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONSFollowing Reuters' first story on child labor at SMART last July, as many as 10 Hyundai suppliers in Alabama have been under investigation by state or federal authorities for child labor violations, Reuters reported in December. In the shareholder letter, Chang reiterated that Hyundai was "discouraging" suppliers from relying on such staffing agencies in the future. He wrote that staffing firms who hired children to work at Hyundai supplier plants had provided false employee documentation. Earlier this month, thirty-three members of Congress urged DOL to seek strong and swift penalties against those responsible for child labor in the Hyundai supply chain.

☆ Biden to roll out new asylum restrictions at U.S.-Mexico border -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Migrants queue near the border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezWASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The Biden administration could bar tens of thousands of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border from claiming asylum if they passed through another country en route to the United States without seeking protection, according to a proposed regulation rolling out on Tuesday, five sources told Reuters. The proposed restrictions, which seek to deter people from crossing the border without authorization, will be subject to a 30-day public comment period and then reviewed before final publication, two of the sources said. While Biden initially pledged to restore asylum access that was curtailed under Republican former President Donald Trump, he has increasingly embraced Trump-style restrictions. Biden's plan to ban certain asylum seekers mirrors similar efforts under Trump that were blocked by federal courts.

☆ Reuters wins George Polk Award for uncovering child labor in Hyundai supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Cheney OrrNew York, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A team of Reuters reporters on Monday won a George Polk Award for reports that revealed the widespread use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai Motor Co in the U.S. state of Alabama. The Polk jury, awarding the prize in its "state reporting" category, said Reuters "sparked increased scrutiny from federal and state agencies and led Hyundai to demand more accountability from its suppliers." Also in February, Hyundai itself said it was in discussions with the Labor Department to resolve concerns about the child labor. After discovering that staffing agencies hired child workers for employment in Alabama poultry plants, they learned that migrant minors were also building parts for Hyundai and Kia (000270.KS). Both companies have said they don't tolerate child labor and are taking measures to ensure underage workers don't find their way back into their supply chains.

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