A cleaning company illegally hired a 13-year-old. Her family is paying the price.

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After the Labor Department descended on a sanitation firm operating at a Nebraska meatpacking plant, the company was fined for violating child labor laws. One of the minor workers has seen her life unravel.

“We have never in my memory found the types of violations that are being found in hazardous occupations,” said David Weil, a professor of social policy and management at Brandeis University who was a top labor official in the Obama administration. “It’s outrageous.”The Labor Department does not track how many child workers are immigrants, saying that is not relevant to its investigations. But advocates and industry watchdogs say immigration is a key factor in the increase.

The mother, who has seven children, said she wanted the girl to focus on school. But the girl said she grew bored in Grand Island and last summer applied online for the job at Packers so she could buy nice clothes and an iPhone 13. In the 2022 case, the girl told authorities she was abused and forced to work for Packers to repay an $8,000 bill for smuggling her north from Guatemala. Her uncle pleaded no contest to felony child abuse and is awaiting sentencing; and the aunt has yet to enter a plea. In an interview, she denied mistreating the girl.

“You’ve got people within the community seeing them coming and going late at night and arriving to school,” Rebolledo said. “All I keep thinking is: ‘How did this happen? How did no one say anything?’” Packers also uses software that asks applicants to confirm that they are over 18. Several applicants declined to answer that question, Labor officials said, causing the software to issue warnings that Packers disregarded.

Packers officials said Labor had given them the names of only 23 of the 102 minors. “The remaining 79 were not disclosed to us, because they were allegedly former employees,” Swenson said. “Our audits and DOL’s investigation confirmed that none of the individuals DOL cited as under the age of 18 work for the company today, and many had separated from employment with PSSI multiple years ago.”

The matter has not come up at school board or city council meetings, minutes show. School officials and most school board members declined to comment, while most city councilors did not respond to phone calls from The Post. Mayor Roger Steele, a Republican, declined to be interviewed. “I don’t understand how these children today … could have done something like this, because it’s really rough,” he said. “Working all night in a difficult place and then going to school.”

Two of those students have fled town, the employee said, adding: “When the authorities came, the kids thought they would be taken away or deported.”

 

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Both parents need some jail time. Clear case of child abuse

Child labor returning to US perhaps

American capitalism at it's worst!😡 PROFIT$ over people!! Meanwhile Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman took home a record $1.27 billion for 2022, and at Packers Sanitation Services, the most compensated executive makes $700,000, annually.

Another red state disregarding laws

Hooray for Biden’s open borders and human trafficking!

Maybe joey should close border Oh… cartels love joe!

This country is really, truly, absolutely moving backward. Appalling. What next? Salem Witch trials? Doctors using leeches? Another Civil War........oh wait!

Deport all illegals.

So these people got fake papers so they could send a 13 year old to work at a meat packing plant? We aren’t supposed to be feeling sorry for the parents are we?

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