U.S. Probes Trafficking of Teen Migrants for Poultry-Plant Work

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating whether unaccompanied migrant teenagers have been released from government custody to labor traffickers who sent them to work in agricultural processing facilities in numerous cities, according to an internal email and two sources briefed on the situation.

“Since we spoke last month about indicators of labor exploitation and/or potential labor trafficking of unaccompanied minors in Alabama, HTPU [the U.S. Justice Department’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit] has become aware of similar concerns in multiple other jurisdictions,” wrote HTPU Director Hilary Axam on July 21 to personnel at four other agencies, in an email obtained by ...