The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating whether 50 children, some as young as 13, who were found working in slaughterhouses across the Midwest, were victims of human trafficking.
Duvan Pérez was employed to clean up at Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg, a chicken supplier to companies such as Chick-fil-A. Pérez passed away on July 14, and shortly after, a local Facebook news site questioned his actual age. It was later revealed that he was 16. In the course of making the documentary, Mar-Jac verified that Perez had assumed the identity of a man in his 30s.
Shown a picture of the 16-year-old, Mar-Jac attorney Larry Stine said Perez did not look like a 32-year-old man. “But he might have looked 18,” said Stine, who has represented the Georgia-based company since the 1990s.
In 2022, another individual contacted the local police to report that she was unable to access child care assistance in Texas due to someone using her identity at Mar-Jac. “[Redacted] stated she’s never lived outside of the state of Texas,” the police report said. “She contacted HR at Mar-Jac and was informed that they couldn’t give her any information and to contact the police department.”
Mar-Jac has conducted a thorough review of its workforce and is confident that no one under the age of 18 is employed. Stine acknowledged that the company’s ability to scrutinize documentation is restricted to the government’s E-Verify system: “Under the way the rules are set up, we’re limited. They gave us this documentation, we cannot look into it.”
Mar-Jac blamed the hiring of the teenager on a staffing company that supplies workers to the plant.
It’s illegal for minors to work in slaughterhouses, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers among the most perilous workplaces in the country.
Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Hearthside Food Solutions, and Gerber’s Poultry in Ohio are currently being investigated by the Labor Department for alleged child labor in their facilities. The companies have stated that they are cooperating with the investigation and have strict policies against hiring anyone under 18. In a letter to investigating senators, Tyson Foods expressed their commitment to complying with labor laws and holding their business partners to high standards of accountability.
The children were allegedly illegally employed by Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a company that provides cleaning services to meat processing plants. The company has been accused of violating child labor laws and exposing minors to hazardous working conditions.
The DHS investigation aims to eliminate the possibility of external traffickers forcing the children to work for PSSI and benefiting from their labor. Last December, PSSI consented to a decree with the Labor Department, agreeing to comply with child labor laws, pay a $1.5 million civil penalty, and enlist an external compliance specialist.
NBC News reported that FBI agents discovered over 25 minors working at Gerber’s Poultry plant during a midnight raid in October. The company stated that it is cooperating with federal authorities, adding: “We have formal identity verification procedures in place and dedicate significant resources to ensure that Gerber’s Poultry employees and contractors are legally authorized to work.”
The case has raised concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable workers in the meat industry, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected meatpacking workers. According to the Food and Environment Reporting Network, more than 50,000 meatpacking workers have tested positive for the coronavirus and at least 270 have died.
Relevant articles:
– Minor who died in poultry plant accident got the job with the identity of a 32-year-old
– The federal government is investigating the possible human trafficking …
– Feds say more than 100 children worked for slaughterhouse cleaning firm
– At least 50 children found cleaning Midwest slaughterhouses