Long before President Trump returned to the White House, Florida began cracking down on companies hiring undocumented immigrants. Now, a new dilemma: Who will take on the lower-paying jobs in the state that those immigrants held? The state Legislature has an idea: loosening labor laws so kids can slip into those spots. Per a new bill advanced by the Legislature on Tuesday, teens as young as 14—if they're homeschooled or meet other criteria—would be able to work overnight shifts, overturning current state restrictions on them working before 6:30am and after 11pm, reports CNN. Other limits would be removed for 16- and 17-year-olds, including meal break guarantees and other restrictions on work hours.
"This is a parental rights issue," Republican state Sen. Jay Collins, the bill's sponsor, told the committee on Tuesday, per the Tallahassee Democrat. The bill squeaked by the Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee in a 5-4 vote and now heads to two other panels before a full Florida Senate vote. And Gov. Ron DeSantis appears poised to sign the bill if it eventually makes its way to his desk. "Yes, we had people that left because of those [immigration] rules, but you've also been able to hire other people," he said at a roundtable last week in Sarasota. "And what's wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that's how it used to be when I was growing up."
DeSantis added: "Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts? College students should be able to do this stuff." CNN notes that the state has been slowly easing child labor laws "for years." Meanwhile, according to a recent fact sheet from the Department of Labor, child labor violations in the Sunshine State nearly tripled from 2019 to 2022.
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Some are already warning how this could adversely affect young employees. "The teens who will be most harmed by this bill are low-income young people or those without documented status who are compelled by their situation to work," Economic Policy Institute analyst Nina Mast tells the Miami Herald. Alexis Tsoukalas, a labor expert with the left-leaning Florida Policy Institute, says that youngsters working long hours are more likely to suffer accidents and injuries and are at greater risk for doing poorly in school or dropping out altogether. (More child labor stories.)
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