The mass expulsion of undocumented immigrants is affecting industries that rely on their cheap labor, such as agriculture, construction, tourism, and hospitality. Republican governors and lawmakers from Arkansas, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin believe they have the solution: eliminate protections for minors against labor abuse so they can fill the jobs left behind.
Republicans are facing strong criticism for how their crackdown on immigrants is affecting sectors of the economy that depend on cheap labor. Their proposed solution: replace them with children and teenagers.
The reform effort began gaining momentum in 2022, when Republican-controlled legislatures in New Hampshire and New Jersey passed the first laws allowing minors aged 14 to 17 to work longer hours and at night.
In 2023, Republican governors in Iowa and Arkansas followed suit. Iowa’s Kim Reynolds allowed 14-year-olds to work in dangerous occupations such as construction, fireworks manufacturing, demolition, and industrial laundries, and 16-year-olds to serve alcohol in restaurants. Arkansas’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders went further by eliminating the requirement for employers to verify a child’s age or obtain parental consent.
Currently, Republicans are pushing similar initiatives in states where they hold legislative majorities, such as Ohio and Wisconsin (in the latter, lowering the legal age to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants to 14). Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is leading the charge with the most ambitious proposal yet to deregulate child labor: Senate Bill (SB) 918.
According to the Coalition Against Child Labor, minors are less likely to reject low wages, unionize, or demand better working conditions.
“Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even illegally, when teenagers used to work at these resorts?” said DeSantis. “And what’s wrong with expecting our young people to work part-time now? That’s how it was when I was a kid.”
A COSTLY ANTI-IMMIGRANT CAMPAIGN
Some Republican figures have spoken out on this issue before. In 2012, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called child labor laws “truly stupid” and suggested kids should work as school janitors. Thirty years earlier, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan attempted to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work longer hours for less than minimum wage, but a coalition of Democrats, unions, teachers, parents, and child development groups blocked the effort.
Today, that old idea is merging with the need to address the labor shortages caused by Republican immigration policies, particularly in agriculture, construction, tourism, and hospitality, with Florida being a prime example.
A previous law, SB 1718, pushed by Governor DeSantis and in effect since July 2023, mandates the use of the E-Verify digital system for employers with 25 or more workers, imposes fines of up to $1,000 per day for hiring undocumented workers, and allows for the revocation of business licenses. It also establishes up to five years in prison for transporting an undocumented person across state lines, and up to 15 years if a minor or more than five people are transported (meaning a U.S. citizen could face prison for driving their undocumented partner or family member in Florida). The law also prohibits local governments from issuing IDs to undocumented individuals and voids driver’s licenses issued in other states to people without legal status, limiting mobility and access to jobs and basic services. Hospitals are required to ask patients about their immigration status, discouraging medical care.
The result has been a mass exodus of the cheap labor force used by farms, construction sites, hotels, restaurants, and other services, worsening crisis situations such as post-hurricane cleanup and reconstruction. The Florida Policy Institute estimated that this law would cost the state’s economy $12.6 billion in its first year due to lost workers and reduced consumer spending.
LET THE CHILDREN WORK
Senate Bill 918, currently under discussion in the Florida legislature and drafted by Governor DeSantis’s office, is explicitly aimed at addressing the labor shortage caused by restrictive immigration policies. It proposes the following:
Eliminating limits on the number of hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work during the school year.
Removing restrictions that prevent minors from working more than 8 hours if they have school the next day.
Eliminating mandatory 30-minute meal breaks.
Allowing minors to work past 11 p.m.
The same applies to 14- and 15-year-olds. They would no longer have limits on the number of hours in their workday if they have completed high school, have a school exemption, or are in homeschooling or virtual programs. They would also no longer be entitled to a 30-minute break every four hours.
The bill was approved on March 25 by the Florida Senate’s Commerce and Tourism Committee. If passed by the full Senate, it would take effect on July 1.
POOR OUTCOMES
Critics of these Republican initiatives point to poor outcomes in states that have already relaxed child labor laws, such as Iowa and Arkansas. These states have seen increased labor violations, injuries, and deaths among minors, along with negative effects on education and youth well-being, without providing a sustainable solution to labor shortages.
Unions such as the AFL-CIO have denounced what they call an attempt to replace immigrant labor with more vulnerable workers such as minors, who lack the experience or training to safely perform physically demanding or hazardous jobs, instead of improving labor conditions or easing legal pathways for immigrants.
Groups such as the Florida Immigrant Coalition accuse DeSantis of using child labor as a tool to justify anti-immigration policies, ignoring the broader economic and social impact of these measures.
In addition, the Florida Policy Institute has presented studies showing that working more than 20 hours per week during the school year is associated with higher dropout rates and mental health issues among teens.
Related: Trump could put the brakes on deportations of migrant workers in the fields and hotels
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