Who could have imagined that hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant minors crossing the border could possibly end up as child laborers? Yes, anyone with a working brain cell or two could have done that. Now that the New York Times has published findings from an investigation into child labor exploitation, suddenly the Biden administration realizes the very dark and seedy underbelly of illegal immigration includes human trafficking and the horrors that accompany it.

There are illegal migrant children working in dangerous jobs across America. That’s what the NYT investigation discovered. So, on Monday, the Biden administration announced it is launching a crackdown on the labor exploitation of illegal migrant children which will include more aggressive investigations of companies benefiting from their work.

As part of the new effort, the Department of Labor, which enforces these laws, said it would target not just the factories and suppliers that illegally employ children, but also the larger companies that have child labor in their supply chains. Migrant children often use false identification and find jobs through staffing agencies that do not verify their Social Security numbers.

Companies have escaped fines in the past by blaming those agencies or other subcontractors when violations are discovered.

“Too frequently, employers who contract for services are not vigilant about who is working in their facilities,” the Labor Department said in a statement.

The department will also explore using a “hot goods” legal provision that allows it to stop the interstate transport of goods when child labor has been found in the supply chain.

The NYT investigation found products made with child labor in the American supply chains of major brands and retailers. These include Ben & Jerry’s, Fruit of the Loom, Ford, General Motors, J. Crew, Walmart, Whole Foods, and Target.

The Department of Labor has begun an investigation into Hearthside Food Solutions, a company that makes and packages food for other companies, including General Mills, Frito-Lay, and Quaker Oats. Children in Grand Rapids, Michigan were found working late nights at plants operated by Hearthside. Administration officials plan to initiate investigations in parts of the country more likely to have child labor violations. They will also ask Congress to increase penalties. There will be a joint task force created between the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to share information. HHS is responsible for child migrants.

I have a suggestion for the Biden administration – close the southern border. This problem can be directly traced to Biden’s border crisis. More than 250,000 unaccompanied minors have come into the United States in the last two years, mostly from Central America. Many are under pressure to send money back to their parents and some have to pay thousands of dollars to human smugglers. Some sponsors demand to be paid rent and living expenses.

The minors are taking jobs in slaughterhouses, construction sites, and commercial bakeries. Biden’s America is one that conjures up visions of a Charles Dickens novel. The humanitarian crisis on the southern border has produced a resurgence of the bad old days before child labor laws. Where are the labor unions? Why are they allowing this child exploitation to happen without blowing the whistle on the companies guilty of this abuse? Isn’t the Democrat Party always telling us they are the party that cares about children? “It’s for the children,” right?

Is this brewing scandal and crisis the reason that Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh left the Biden administration earlier this month to take a job as executive director of the NHL Players’ Association? Pretty convenient timing, isn’t it? It sounds like the Republicans in charge of government oversight in the House have some questions for HHS Secretary Becerra.

A spokesman for Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, “cut corners on vetting procedures to prioritize the expedited release of minors, and as a result more migrant children are being handed off to traffickers and exploited.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill immediately began launching investigations and discussing legislation, including plans to demand the Department of Health and Human Services to track and provide better care for children after they are released to sponsors. Democrats are also considering new measures.

Both the House Judiciary and Oversight committees pledged investigations, and Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and the Judiciary chairman, demanded in a letter sent Monday that Robin Dunn Marcos, the director of the division of H.H.S. in charge of child migrants, submit to a transcribed interview.

A 2008 federal anti-trafficking law allows unaccompanied minors from countries other than Canada and Mexico to remain in the United States and apply for asylum or other legal protections. HHS is supposed to ensure sponsors will support them and protect them from trafficking or exploitation. However, the historically high number of unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border has caused Becerra to demand his staff speed up an assembly line of releasing children from shelters as quickly as possible. HHS rolled back protections that had been in place for years, including background checks and reviews of children’s files. Hey, I thought it was that bad Orange Man who rolled back protections to the detriment of people.

If Joe Biden is going to keep the southern border wide open, the least he can do is make sure unaccompanied minors are protected as long as they remain in the United States. Instead, he is turning the United States into a Third World country.