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In a letter addressed to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee, pressed the department "to take immediate action to rid Hyundai's supply chain of child labor." The news agency reported that state and federal authorities were investigating as many as ten suppliers for potential child labor violations there. In their letter to Walsh, the lawmakers commended the Labor Department for its enforcement actions in the matter so far. After Reuters' first story about child labor at SMART last July, the department and Alabama state authorities launched a probe into the supplier. The lawmakers said they want the Labor Department to take further action because "additional automotive parts suppliers for Hyundai, mainly in Alabama, are also suspected of child labor violations."

"We share Congresswoman Sewell's view that the use of child labor is unacceptable," Hyundai said. Sewell's comments are the first from a high-ranking Alabama official on child labor problems in Hyundai's supply chain. The new actions by Hyundai and its discussions with regulators and lawmakers come after Reuters documented child labor in various Alabama auto plants making parts for Hyundai or Kia. The child labor reports have put a spotlight on Hyundai's growing operations in the United States. Regulatory fines for child labor, by contrast, can be relatively small.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States is poised to start using fast-track asylum screenings at the U.S.-Mexico border, part of U.S. President Joe Biden's recent efforts to address a record number of illegal crossings, five sources told Reuters. A group of Biden administration officials visited the U.S.-Mexico border this week in preparation for the new effort, said two of the sources, both U.S. officials. It was unclear when the fast-track screenings will begin. Under the plan, asylum seekers detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would have remote interviews with a U.S. asylum officer within days, the sources said. Reuters first reported in December that the fast-track screenings were under consideration.

Launched in 2020, the app has previously been used to allow people crossing legally at land ports of entry to submit their information beforehand and for non-governmental organizations to request humanitarian entry for certain migrants. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration touts the app as a more regulated, potentially quicker alternative to crossing the border. Rodriguez has been camping in Matamoros, a Mexican border city across from Brownsville, since late November with over a dozen family members, some of whom have already crossed into the United States. Claudia Martinez, a 38-year-old Venezuelan waiting in Tijuana, was unable to access CBP One despite several tries. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Daina Solomon in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Jackie Botts in Oaxaca City, Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: Why migrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Mica Rosenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

What is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border now and why are there record numbers of crossings? U.S. Border Patrol made more than 2.2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last September, the most ever recorded. The number of Venezuelans crossing the border plummeted after Mexico agreed to accept expulsions of Venezuelan migrants last October. The Biden administration has said it wants to surge resources to process more claims quicker but faces budgetary and other constraints. The Biden administration also set a goal of resettling 125,000 refugees in 2022 who apply from abroad after Trump dramatically slashed admissions during his term.

[1/4] 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. Initial backlash to Biden's policy shift also signals it could be challenged in court, from both those who favor restricting immigration and advocates for asylum seekers. The restrictions, known as Title 42, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum in the United States. The Biden administration tried last year to end the Title 42 border restrictions, but U.S. courts have left them in place and legal challenges are ongoing. The court rulings that left the Title 42 order in place give the Biden administration time to experiment with different strategies.

☆ Special Report: Boy Scouts, Catholic dioceses find haven from sex abuse suits in bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Kristina Cooke Mike Spector Benjamin Lesser Dan Levine Disha Raychaudhuri | Kristina Cooke | Mike Spector | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

The Boy Scouts, for instance, said on a website the group set up for restructuring that it launched a “comprehensive noticing campaign” in the media. He sought compensation in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy in June, long after a deadline of November 16, 2020 for filing claims. The Boy Scouts bankruptcy reorganization plan, approved by a judge in September, halts all lawsuits against the Boy Scouts, local councils, churches and other organizations that chartered scouting activities. His case was halted by the Boy Scouts bankruptcy. Later that year, in August, he filed his lawsuit against defendants including a Boy Scouts local council and DeSandre.

☆ Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Hyundai and Kia now have dozens of suppliers in Alabama, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a business group. The agency, they said, hired underage workers while they worked there. “It was my first job in the United States and this is not what you would expect to see here.”Six other former workers told Reuters they, too, saw underage workers at Ajin’s two factories in Cusseta. Herrera said he raised concerns about the underage workers with managers at SMART, but was brushed off. The officials, wearing shirts that bore Hyundai logos, inspected the assembly line even as underage workers labored there, Herrera said.

But now the states' motion sets the stage for a protracted legal battle that throws the future of the policy in doubt. A record number of migrants have been apprehended at the border since Biden took office in January 2021 and Republicans say ending Title 42 will draw even more crossers. After Sullivan's ruling, the Biden administration said it was making plans to manage the border without the order. The states said in their motion to intervene in the case that border states like Arizona and Texas would face "increased migrant flows" and that wherever migrants end up, "they will impose financial burdens on the states involuntarily hosting them." The states could also take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where there is a majority of conservative justices.

☆ Republicans grill Biden homeland chief in possible preview of next Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Republicans at a congressional hearing on Tuesday chastised U.S. While Tuesday's hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee was titled "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," Republicans focused intensely on the southwestern border. [1/6] A general view of a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2022. Higgins said there were rumors that Mayorkas would resign before the start of the new Congress on Jan. 3. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller, Kristina Cooke and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Some sponsors are U.S.-based relatives of Venezuelans eager to flee political and economic turmoil back home. Diaz, a Venezuelan-American advocate who has lived in the United States for the past 25 years, got in touch with Venezuelans seeking sponsors via social media. Around 7,000 Venezuelans have been approved for the new program since the Oct. 18 launch, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. U.S. sponsors do not need to be related to Venezuelans to support their applications, but they must have permission to reside in the United States. A week after the new program was announced and the Mexico return policy was enacted, U.S. authorities saw an 80% decrease in Venezuelan border encounters.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A man who clubbed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband over the head with a hammer, shouting, "Where is Nancy? ", faced charges of attempted murder and other felonies a day after the violent break-in at the couple's San Francisco home. She flew to San Francisco to be with her husband. Police identified the man arrested at the scene by officers who intervened in the attack as David Depape, 42. Formal charges were expected to be filed by the San Francisco district attorney's office.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A group that works with union pension funds is pressing Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) to respond to reports of child labor at U.S. parts suppliers, warning of potential reputational damage to the Korean automaker. In addition, the letter cited a recent federal and state investigation into children working at another Hyundai supplier in the state. Reuters first documented child labor practices at Hyundai-owned SMART Alabama LLC earlier this year. "Hyundai will continue to closely review the labor operations of its suppliers to ensure full compliance with all local, state and federal laws," Gabriel said in an email. "I think investors like us need to step out and say, 'the value of the fines is not capturing your risk even remotely.

A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC. read moreFollowing the Reuters report, Alabama's state Department of Labor, in coordination with federal agencies, began investigating SMART Alabama. The executive also pledged that Hyundai would push to stop relying on third party labor suppliers at its southern U.S. operations. Munoz told Reuters: "Hyundai is pushing to stop using third party labor suppliers, and oversee hiring directly." SL and Smart Alabama did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have left their troubled homeland for Mexico this year to get to the United States. Up to 1,000 Venezuelans per day could be expelled to Mexico under the new agreement, two U.S. officials told Reuters. "We've been overwhelmed by the news," said Lizbeth Guerrero, director of an aid group for Venezuelan migrants in Mexico City. She forecast many people would press on with plans to reach the United States because they had nothing to return to. Those who could not enter the United States or find work quickly risked becoming prey for violent gangs, she said.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Alabama-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labor laws. The action against SL Alabama, which supplies lights and mirrors for Hyundai and Kia assembly plants in the U.S. South, came following a July Reuters article that documented child labor practices at another auto parts supplier in the state, Hyundai-owned SMART Alabama LLC. SL Alabama agreed to implement new monitoring and training programs, the federal regulator said. "Our investigation found SL Alabama engaged in oppressive child labor," said Kenneth Stripling, DOL's Wage and Hours Division Director in Birmingham, Alabama, in the statement. Regulators said plant operators are accountable for child labor violations even when unauthorized employees are brought in by third-party recruiting firms.

☆ U.S. whistleblowers aiding migrant children feared retaliation -watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. government workers feared retaliation for raising concerns last year about the treatment of unaccompanied migrant children on a Texas military base, where children have been held amid record arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a watchdog report released on Tuesday. There are currently 589 children at the base, the official said, and children stay, on average, for 13 days before being released to parents or other sponsors. ORR's parent agency agreed with all the report's recommendations, including ensuring that employees and contractors are aware of whistleblower protections. In a letter to the inspector general, the agency pledged to more explicitly specify the protections in contractor agreements and trainings. To alleviate overcrowding in border stations, HHS opened several emergency shelters to house unaccompanied children until they could be placed with sponsors in the United States.

Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoSept 19 (Reuters) - A Texas county sheriff is opening a criminal investigation into flights that carried dozens of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, from Texas last week, an act that Florida's Republican governor took credit for and which the White House dubbed a political stunt. San Antonio is the biggest city in Bexar County. read moreDeSantis joins Republican governors from Texas and Arizona in sending migrants to Democratic-controlled cities, including buses of migrants from Texas dropped off near the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington. DeSantis said last week that Florida paid to fly the migrants to Martha's Vineyard because many migrants who arrive in Florida come from Texas. read moreU.S. border agents made nearly 2 million migrant arrests through August at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year, which began last October, according to government data released Monday.

People gather outside ahead of the arrival of migrants who have been flown from Texas via Florida at Delaware Coastal Airport in Sussex County, Delaware, U.S., September 20, 2022. Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis did not confirm reports of the flight on Tuesday nor did he indicate if he was behind the action. Asked at the White House about his reaction to the possibility of DeSantis sending migrants near his Delaware beach house, Biden told reporters, "He should come visit. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe White House said it was coordinating closely with local officials and had received no heads up from DeSantis, with spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre saying "his only goal is to create chaos." read more"I think it's opening people's eyes to the solution, which is let's have a secure border," DeSantis said in a press conference Tuesday.

DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights on Wednesday that carried around 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders. "There may be more flights, there may be buses," he said to cheers and applause from backers in the crowd. The state paid $615,000 to Vertol Systems Company Inc, an aviation business, on Sept. 8 as part of a "relocation program of unauthorized aliens," Florida state data showed. The flights to Martha's Vineyard follow a busing effort by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, that has sent more than 10,000 migrants to the Democrat-controlled cities of Washington, New York and Chicago since April. The Republican governor of Arizona also has sent more than 1,800 migrants to Washington.

[1/4] A Hyundai auto plant is seen from inside a Greyhound bus outside of Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonLUVERNE, Alabama, July 22 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co has used child labor at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker's assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police, the family of three underage workers, and eight former and current employees of the factory. Underage workers, in some cases as young as 12, have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. In a "human rights policy" posted online, Hyundai says it forbids child labor throughout its workforce, including suppliers. Many of the minors at the plant were hired through recruitment agencies, according to current and former SMART workers and local labor recruiters.

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