Latino Children As Young As 7 Laboring In U.S. Tobacco Farms

*Outrageous. This is the crux of the problem: “In the agricultural industry it is legal for children as young as 12 to work for unlimited hours. While there is a law limiting children under 16 from working in dangerous farm work, the law does not include working with tobacco leaves and plants.” VL

By NBCNews

In tobacco farms around the U.S., children as young as seven are being exposed to high levels of nicotine and toxic pesticides and are working more than 50 to 60 hours a week. Most of them are Latino, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.

“The children we interviewed were mostly the sons and daughters of Hispanic immigrants, though they themselves were frequently US citizens,” states the report. Most of the children were seasonal workers and many had migrated by themselves or with their families to work on the tobacco farms which supply the largest tobacco companies in the world.

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[Photo by Kentucky Photo File/Flickr]